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　　The U.S. House of Representatives voted against ameasure last Friday that would permit the presidentto "fast track" trade legislation. The measure iscalled Trade Promotion Authority.

　　The bill would have required Congress only to votefor or against trade legislation without the ability toamend the agreement. The vote was a setback forPresident Barack Obama. He said the failure to passthe bill would directly hurt 100,000 American jobs.

　　Although a new vote could take place as early asFriday, Republican leaders in the House are seeking to delay the vote until July.

　　Trade Promotion Authority seen as important to free-trade deal

　　Trade Promotion Authority is considered an important step toward approval of a free tradeagreement for the Asia-Pacific area. Approval of Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, isconsidered extremely important to passage of a new Asia free-trade accord. Many countries inthe area are watching what is happening in Washington closely.

　　On Monday, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs, K. Shanmugam, warned that the UnitedStates faces, in his words, a ‘stark choice' over its future in the Asia-Pacific region.

　　Mr. Shanmugam spoke to the Washington-based Centers for Strategic and InternationalStudies. He says it is very important to complete the negotiations on the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) free-trade agreement that have lasted for years. He adds most of thiscentury's economic growth will come from Asia:

　　"Everyone knows China. But there are other parts of the story, India, Southeast Asia. ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the 10 countries of ASEAN together are the seventhlargest economy in the world, something that not a lot of people realize -- two-point-fourtrillion dollars today but, within five years, it will be four-trillion (dollars)."

　　Mr. Shanmugam says the Asia-Pacific region needs development of air and seaports, railways,roads and other infrastructure. The region needs industries such as energy and informationtechnology.

　　Difficult choices on trade

　　The foreign minister says the United States faces a choice:

　　"In all of this, where is the United States? It's been the guarantor of peace; it's been theguarantor of progress and prosperity up to now. If you don't do this deal, what are yourlevers of power?"

　　Singapore expert Michael Barr is with Australia's Flinders University School of InternationalStudies. He says the perception of political lack of action and rising economic nationalism inWashington concerns America's traditional Asian allies. He says they would be unwilling toreach agreement on TPP without fast-track authority because it means Congress could amendthe agreement.

　　"Singaporeans in particular, it's not just them, are very concerned with managing the rise ofChina, and Singapore knows that they have extremely limited capacity to do anythingthemselves about managing the rise of China. All they can do is manage their response to it,and they really look to the Americans."

　　Michael Barr says countries are concerned about losing faith in America. He says the real worryin Asia is that the Americans will show themselves unable to doing anything effective, evensomething minimal like signing a free trade agreement.

　　U.S. House Republican leaders say they need more time to build Congressional support forTrade Promotion Authority. An agreement will have to have support from both parties. Ameasure approved by the Senate for job retraining funding called Trade Adjustment Assistancewas among the measures defeated Friday. Few Democrats supported the measure.

　　White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the longer the process takes, the harder itwill be to build bipartisan support.

　　The president faces opposition from his own Democratic Party over fast-track authority.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clintonhave questioned the legislation.

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