Congressman Peter DeFazio will be among a panel of experts speaking about the Fast Track Authority and Trans-Pacific Partnership trade legislation from 6 to 7:30 p.m. today in the Fir Room of the Erb Memorial Union.
Currently in the process of international negotiations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is an expansion of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (P4) that was struck between the U.S, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei in 2005 in order to boost economic relations and improve trade flow between the five countries. If approved, the TPP would expand upon P4 to include a dozen countries including Japan, Australia, Peru and Mexico.
Critics of the partnership argue that the agreement is not mainly about trade (5 of the 29 draft chapters relate directly to trade) and would lead to problems from increased outsourcing to restricted intellectual property laws globally.
The panel will also discuss the current senate debate regarding whether or not to grant Fast Track or “Trade Promotion” authority to the executive – a decision that would  allow Obama to expedite trade agreements by requiring congressional action within 90 days.
Rep. DeFazio is in opposition to both proposed trade bills. He will be joined on the panel by Gordon Lafer, a political economist and associate professor in the UO’s Labor Education and Research Center.
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