At Book Rap, Paulson urges Congress to pass fast-track trade legislaton

Congress should pass fast-track trade legislation, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a Club Book Rap April 17.

Also known as trade promotion authority, the legislation would allow the president to negotiate trade deals that are submitted to Congress for an up-or-down vote without amendments.

“Trade promotion authority, I think, is essential to get a trade deal done,” Paulson said. “We won’t be able to negotiate the best possible trade deal, if we can negotiate any deal at all, if the president doesn’t have that because otherwise how would the other side know it was a real negotiation.”

People disagree about the merits of open trade, Paulson said. “There are positives and negatives but I think the positives way outweigh the negatives,” he said.

The event featured Paulson being interviewed by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell, a NPC Fourth Estate Award winner, about his new book, "Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower."

It began late because Mitchell was anchoring her network’s coverage of a presidential news conference in which President Obama pushed for the fast-track authority.

“I think it's important to recognize that trade promotion authority is not the same as a trade agreement; it just gives us a structure whereby when a trade agreement is presented, it can move forward in a quicker fashion and not get completely bogged down in the usual procedures,” Obama said during the news conference.