With a flair for timing, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) released an assessment of some of the agreements negotiated under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA)—fast-track negotiating ability delegated to the executive branch by Congress—on June 29, days before TPA expired on July 1. The report arrived just in time to add fuel to conversations about TPA’s benefits or evils, or whether powers exercised under TPA have much effect at all on the US economy. The USITC is an independent agency that provides data and analyses related to trade for both the executive and legislative branches and houses some ... (full story)