Reauthorizing Trade Promotion Authority: The first trade test for the Biden administration

The Biden administration has so far been deliberately ambiguous about its trade policy, preferring broad statements (“a worker-centric” trade policy) to specific proposals. The expiration of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) on July 1 provides an opportunity to clarify whether pursuing new agreements, including joining the now renamed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), will be part of the new administration’s approach to trade. If the administration does decide to take a more aggressive approach to trade, polling data suggest it will find a public that has grown much more supportive of trade over the past four years.