On the 18th of June the US House of Representatives passed the Trade Promotion Authority by a vote of 218 to 208. The Senate will now reconsider the TPA-2015 bill. If the Senate follows the House, this measure would clear the way for the Obama administration to accelerate the negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, and this can be concluded before the end of the current year. Congress would then get to vote on the pact, without amending the deal.

Member companies from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America have sent over 5 500 letters to Members of Congress in support of TPA over the past several weeks. Matt Priest, President of the FDRA commented on the bill’s passage: “The footwear industry applauds the House of Representatives for re-passing Trade Promotion Authority legislation.  This has been a long and complex journey but I am confident that the U. Senate will soon pass this vital tool that every president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has had at his disposal.  TPA is essential to completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement that could help the US footwear industry and American consumers save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in costs. Our industry paid 2.7 billion US dollars in duties last year — more than 450 million US dollars from TPP partner countries alone. FDRA has worked for years to highlight the hundreds of thousands of US footwear jobs that rely on our ability to move goods all over the world, with trade supporting one in five jobs in America. As this legislation heads back to the Senate, FDRA will continue to lead the charge with congressional leaders to share our story and explain how TPA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership will strengthen and expand these jobs throughout the US”

Founded in 1944 by the footwear industry, the FDRA is the largest footwear trade association in the US.  It represents the footwear industry from small family owned footwear businesses, US footwear factories, and global footwear companies.  It also represents and serves the full supply chain of the footwear industry from research, design and development, to manufacturing and distribution, to retailers selling to consumers all over the globe.