Froman: ‘Historic’ trade year within grasp

FROMAN: ‘HISTORIC’ TRADE YEAR WITHIN GRASP: U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman is using the release of President Barack Obama’s annual trade agenda today to make a full-blown pitch for Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership, arguing it would continue a bipartisan tradition of trade liberalization spanning more than 80 years.

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“Trade is one of America’s longest-running bipartisan success stories,” Froman says in the congressionally mandated report. “This year, we have the opportunity to write the next chapter of that story. What we do together in the coming weeks and months will resonate for decades to come. We must do more than watch the future unfold. We must shape it.”

The report offers few hints on how the White House will resolve senior Republicans’ concerns about the TPP pact. But in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch’s favorite area, intellectual property, it promises “robust monitoring” and the use of existing trade tools to ensure countries are living up to their trade commitments and to tear down other barriers.

The flashy publication is stuffed with colorful illustrations aimed at selling both Congress and the American public on the benefits of the TPP deal. Along with a proposed trade agreement with the European Union, the 12-nation pact will help turn the United States into the world’s production platform of choice by eliminating duties on exports, the report said.

“With momentum on many fronts, from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to the Environmental Goods Agreement, we expect this to be an historic year for U.S. trade policy,” Froman said, summing up the report’s optimistic tone. Click here for the report: http://politico.pro/1LxaAtj.

IT’S WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2! Welcome to Morning Trade, where we’re guessing you’re going to continue to hear from Donald Trump about the trade deficits with China and Mexico. Do you think his candidacy has been useful in shining a light on trade policy? Let me know: vguida@politico.com or  @vtg2.

FOUR PRO-TPA DEMS LEAVE PRIMARIES UNSCATHED: Trump and Hillary Clinton won big for their respective parties on Super Tuesday, but the presidential race wasn't the only contest. Four of the 28 House Democrats who voted for trade promotion authority had their primaries: Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Henry Cuellar, Beto O'Rourke and Terri Sewell. Of those, only Johnson, Cuellar and O'Rourke were challenged, but all won comfortably. The primary for Rep. Ruben Hinojosa's district also took place, but he is retiring.

Cuellar in particular has already essentially endorsed TPP, telling POLITICO: "I support the Trans-Pacific Partnership but still need to review the International Trade Commission's forthcoming report. I have long been a strong proponent of trade and believe our economy will flourish through stronger exports and the nearly 18,000 tax cuts the agreement contains."

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama also coasted to victory Tuesday night. He has waved off questions about when he will move nominees, including a board member for the Export-Import Bank, by saying he is focused on his primary.

GETTING TO THE MEAT OF TAIWAN’S TPP BID: Taiwan’s next president is expected to remove restrictions on imports of pork raised with the feed additive ractopamine to help its bid to join TPP, according to U.S.-Taiwan Business Council President Rupert Hammond-Chambers.

“Everything that we’re hearing out of Taiwan, both privately and publicly, is that she’s going to make a move on pork,” Hammond-Chambers said in an interview about President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, who takes office May 20. “There seems to be clear awareness on both sides of the political line that pork needs to be dealt with for the United States to take Taiwan’s candidacy seriously.” He noted that the change would likely be packaged with domestic support for pork farmers.

Hammond-Chambers said Taipei hopes to gain the Obama administration’s endorsement of its candidacy to join the TPP in order to provide a foundation for accession negotiations with the next U.S. administration and build momentum with other countries in the trade deal. In particular, he said Peru, Chile and Malaysia could be nervous about allowing the Taiwan into the pact if China disapproves of the move, which it likely will.

“China is threatened by any action that may underscore Taiwan’s ... ability to represent its own interests,” he said. “From that standpoint, [Taiwanese] TPP membership is a threat to Beijing, and they’re going to have an opinion on it when it becomes clear that Taiwan has a path to membership.” Taiwan wasn’t allowed to join the WTO until China joined first, but Hammond-Chambers said the administration recognizes that allowing Beijing to have the final say over a TPP participant would set a bad precedent.