U.S. President Barack Obama declared on Tuesday during his State of the Union address that he will push for legislation that would give him authority to unilaterally make trade deals, but Democrats have warned that they will not support him on this.

Like Us on Facebook

"Twenty-first century businesses, including small businesses, need to sell more American products overseas. That's why I'm asking both parties to give me trade promotion authority to protect American workers, with strong new trade deals from Asia to Europe that aren't just free, but are also fair," Obama said during his speech. He pointed out that it is the right thing to do.

The authority that the president is asking for is known as the "trade promotion authority" or the "fast track authority" that will prevent lawmakers from intervening with the trade deals. A lot has voiced their opinion saying that the proposal will possibly not push through.

The Republican-run Congress has always been a hindrance for the plans of Obama but the plans on trade deals might be an exception as Democrats are saying that Republicans always support trade agreements because they are all for boosting the commerce of the country overseas.

Democrats need support from the Republicans in order to block this as they believe the trade plans of the president will cause people losing their jobs to international companies.  

However, Obama did admit that the past trade deals were not successful but he pointed out he has gone after countries that break the rules for the benefit of the United States. He adds that 95 percent of the customers of the world live outside their country and they cannot close the country from those opportunities.

Fast track authority is much more complicated as according to reports, if the Congress does vote yes to the plans of the president, lawmakers can only vote yes or not to trade deals but could not amend it. Also, lawmakers cannot see what it in the deal until it has been approved by the president.

Although most Democrats do not support Obama, other Democrats are okay with him using the authority as the proposal involves 11 countries from the Asia-Pacific region that covers around 40 percent of the economy of the world. 

TagsPresident Barack Obama, trade plans, State of the Union Address, Republicans, Democrats