In the US, where concern has been heightened by weak recent trade numbers, President Barack Obama is pushing for Congress to give him Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), previously known as fast-track authority, to conclude the mega-regional Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 Asian and Latin American countries. Without TPA, trading partners refrain from offering their best concessions, correctly fearing that Congress would seek to take “another bite of the apple” when asked to ratify any deal.
华盛顿—今年，贸易使美国、欧洲和亚洲大部分国家的重点议程。在美国，疲软的贸易数据引起了巨大的关注，总统奥巴马正在敦促国会授予其贸易促进权（Trade Promotion Authority，TPA，即此前的快速通道授权）完成与11个亚洲和拉美国家的规模庞大的地区级跨太平洋合作伙伴关系（Trans-Pacific Partnership，TPP）。没有TPA，贸易伙伴国就不会做出最佳让步，它们正确地担心国会将在批准一切协议时都试图“多咬一口”。