Last week the US Congress TPA saga seems to have been concluded. The Senate voted Tuesday to overcome possible filibuster and on Wednesday 24 June definitively approved the trade fast-track for President Obama. The Republicans joined forces with some pro-trade Democrats. The House passed the piece a week earlier. It seems that the TPA story is finally over. Splits in both parties made the process difficult, unpredictable and full of twists and turns. First the Senate refused, then approved it. Then the House failed to pass it, only to repeat the vote several days afterwards to approve it after all. The House´s version was then finally approved in the Senate. With TPA approved, there is little doubt that President Obama will be able to conclude the US-Pacific rim countries trade deal (TPP). TPA is good news also for the EU-US TTIP deal. Although there are several difficult outstanding issues in the talks, the negotiators renewed their commitment to have the deal as soon as possible. The original deadline of December 2015 seems, however, obsolete and the new target date is 2016.

For more, click here and here.