The future of U.S. exports moves to center stage now that Congress approved trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama—an achievement that likely will be Congress’s biggest on the trade front for years to come.

The Obama administration is negotiating smaller trade pacts and pursuing trade-enforcement cases at the World Trade Organization—all actions that can and will proceed without Congress, leaving lawmakers grasping for a new trade fight.

China may be poised to fill that void. Even before debate on the trade deals ended, some House Democrats flipped their attention to the U.S. trade imbalance with China and the ever-present charge of “currency manipulation” on Beijing’s part.

Amid the House debate, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., discussed the currency bill, which could slap sanctions on China.

“We are making a big deal out of 77,000 jobs, which are a big deal, but how much bigger a deal is it to say we are ignoring the fact that we are losing over 1 million jobs per year because of the China manipulation of their currency?” Pelosi said. “Last night in the Senate, they passed this legislation. They passed legislation to take action if China continues to manipulate their currency. We shouldn’t even be talking about any trade bills until we do the same.”

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., joined the chorus of Democrats pressuring House GOP leaders to heed the growing bipartisan call to pass the bill that would crack down on China for its undervalued currency.

But Democrats were not alone in grasping for control of the trade message. Senate Republicans seized the opportunity to blame President Obama for not having a trade-expansion strategy in the wings.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, slammed the White House on Wednesday for not asking Congress to authorize trade-promotion authority, or TPA, for negotiating new trade deals.

“This is the first president who hasn’t really asked for it or hasn’t seemed to want it since Jimmy Carter,” Hatch told reporters.

The not-so-subtle comparison between Obama and Carter is just the latest Republican effort to frame trade as an Obama weak spot. TPA could quickly become a new GOP talking point in the message that Obama isn’t serious about creating jobs or implementing his plans to double exports by 2015.

“I think the message to the rest of the world may be, this is the last trade agreement the United States is going to enter into; we don’t want to give the president trade-promotion authority,” McConnell said. “He doesn’t actually want it.”

McConnell did offer TPA as an amendment when the Senate voted to renew trade-adjustment assistance last month. Many trade watchers accused him of using the long process of drafting a TPA bill to encumber the worker retraining funds.

For its part, the White House has not outlined tangible next steps. Deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, are in negotiations, but only the early stages. Although Obama rebooted talks on the deal in 2009, progress has been slow. 
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters he hoped Wednesday’s action is an indication of “the kind of cooperation that the president has had and will continue to have with Republicans on areas where they agree.”

The future of U.S. exports moves to center stage now that Congress approved trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama—an achievement that likely will be Congress’s biggest on the trade front for years to come.

The Obama administration is negotiating smaller trade pacts and pursuing trade-enforcement cases at the World Trade Organization—all actions that can and will proceed without Congress, leaving lawmakers grasping for a new trade fight.

China may be poised to fill that void. Even before debate on the trade deals ended, some House Democrats flipped their attention to the U.S. trade imbalance with China and the ever-present charge of “currency manipulation” on Beijing’s part.

Amid the House debate, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., discussed the currency bill, which could slap sanctions on China.

“We are making a big deal out of 77,000 jobs, which are a big deal, but how much bigger a deal is it to say we are ignoring the fact that we are losing over 1 million jobs per year because of the China manipulation of their currency?” Pelosi said. “Last night in the Senate, they passed this legislation. They passed legislation to take action if China continues to manipulate their currency. We shouldn’t even be talking about any trade bills until we do the same.”

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., joined the chorus of Democrats pressuring House GOP leaders to heed the growing bipartisan call to pass the bill that would crack down on China for its undervalued currency.

But Democrats were not alone in grasping for control of the trade message. Senate Republicans seized the opportunity to blame President Obama for not having a trade-expansion strategy in the wings.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, slammed the White House on Wednesday for not asking Congress to authorize trade-promotion authority, or TPA, for negotiating new trade deals.

“This is the first president who hasn’t really asked for it or hasn’t seemed to want it since Jimmy Carter,” Hatch told reporters.

The not-so-subtle comparison between Obama and Carter is just the latest Republican effort to frame trade as an Obama weak spot. TPA could quickly become a new GOP talking point in the message that Obama isn’t serious about creating jobs or implementing his plans to double exports by 2015.

“I think the message to the rest of the world may be, this is the last trade agreement the United States is going to enter into; we don’t want to give the president trade-promotion authority,” McConnell said. “He doesn’t actually want it.”

McConnell did offer TPA as an amendment when the Senate voted to renew trade-adjustment assistance last month. Many trade watchers accused him of using the long process of drafting a TPA bill to encumber the worker retraining funds.

For its part, the White House has not outlined tangible next steps. Deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, are in negotiations, but only the early stages. Although Obama rebooted talks on the deal in 2009, progress has been slow. 
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters he hoped Wednesday’s action is an indication of “the kind of cooperation that the president has had and will continue to have with Republicans on areas where they agree.”

The future of U.S. exports moves to center stage now that Congress approved trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama—an achievement that likely will be Congress’s biggest on the trade front for years to come.

The Obama administration is negotiating smaller trade pacts and pursuing trade-enforcement cases at the World Trade Organization—all actions that can and will proceed without Congress, leaving lawmakers grasping for a new trade fight.

China may be poised to fill that void. Even before debate on the trade deals ended, some House Democrats flipped their attention to the U.S. trade imbalance with China and the ever-present charge of “currency manipulation” on Beijing’s part.

Amid the House debate, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., discussed the currency bill, which could slap sanctions on China.

“We are making a big deal out of 77,000 jobs, which are a big deal, but how much bigger a deal is it to say we are ignoring the fact that we are losing over 1 million jobs per year because of the China manipulation of their currency?” Pelosi said. “Last night in the Senate, they passed this legislation. They passed legislation to take action if China continues to manipulate their currency. We shouldn’t even be talking about any trade bills until we do the same.”

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., joined the chorus of Democrats pressuring House GOP leaders to heed the growing bipartisan call to pass the bill that would crack down on China for its undervalued currency.

But Democrats were not alone in grasping for control of the trade message. Senate Republicans seized the opportunity to blame President Obama for not having a trade-expansion strategy in the wings.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, slammed the White House on Wednesday for not asking Congress to authorize trade-promotion authority, or TPA, for negotiating new trade deals.

“This is the first president who hasn’t really asked for it or hasn’t seemed to want it since Jimmy Carter,” Hatch told reporters.

The not-so-subtle comparison between Obama and Carter is just the latest Republican effort to frame trade as an Obama weak spot. TPA could quickly become a new GOP talking point in the message that Obama isn’t serious about creating jobs or implementing his plans to double exports by 2015.

“I think the message to the rest of the world may be, this is the last trade agreement the United States is going to enter into; we don’t want to give the president trade-promotion authority,” McConnell said. “He doesn’t actually want it.”

McConnell did offer TPA as an amendment when the Senate voted to renew trade-adjustment assistance last month. Many trade watchers accused him of using the long process of drafting a TPA bill to encumber the worker retraining funds.

For its part, the White House has not outlined tangible next steps. Deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, are in negotiations, but only the early stages. Although Obama rebooted talks on the deal in 2009, progress has been slow. 
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters he hoped Wednesday’s action is an indication of “the kind of cooperation that the president has had and will continue to have with Republicans on areas where they agree.”