What Is Fast Track (Presidential Trade Promotion) Authority?
Fast track authority, which the Bush Administration is calling “Presidential Trade Promotion Authority,” refers to legislation explicitly enabling the President to negotiate trade agreements with foreign countries and then to submit legislation to implement them to Congress for approval under special, expedited procedures. First adopted in the Trade Act of 1974, the authority was used to negotiate and implement several bilateral and multilateral agreements, including agreements in the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade negotiations, the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Uruguay Round (UR) accords, which included establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Under past fast track procedures, the President could negotiate a trade agreement with one or more foreign countries and then submit to Congress the text of the agreement along with draft implementing legislation to make any “necessary or appropriate” changes in U.
