As the Ways and Means Committee works on legislation to promote American exports, conservative, free-enterprise organizations are speaking out for an expanded U.S. trade policy.

Chairman Ryan has noted that good trade deals are good for jobs, and to get the best deals, Congress has to put in place trade promotion authority (TPA). Club for Growth President David McIntosh would appear to agree. "We’re confident it’s pro-growth and believe it’s an appropriate constitutional process," he told POLITICO Pro this week. While the details need to be worked out, he added, "We think it would be good for them to schedule trade promotion authority, get the votes and send it to the president so he can bring trade agreements to Congress."

Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint has also stressed the importance of more American trade agreements. "The world craves U.S. leadership on trade," he wrote recently. "Trade deals are more than economic bargains. They are politically vital symbols that demonstrate American ties to their region are strengthening, rather than atrophying. On the other hand, they understand that for there to be strong support from Congress, the president can't deliver just any trade deal; it must be a deal that actually promotes free trade and helps liberalize markets."

Chairman Ryan agrees. That's why he’s working to advance trade promotion authority, which helps U.S. negotiators get the deal with the fewest barriers to trade possible. In a blog post supporting TPA, the Cato Institute put it this way: "Absent a grant of TPA, the executive branch would have difficulty concluding trade negotiations because foreign governments would be unlikely to put their best offers on the table without assurances that the agreement wouldn’t be unraveled by Congress."

There remains a lot of work to be done, but as the American Enterprise Institute wrote late last year, "The new Republican majorities in the House and Senate should not allow partisan gloating — and the president’s limited skills at retail politicking—to deflect them from continuing support of the administration’s ambitious trade agenda."

Increasing exports is a critical component of a pro-growth economic agenda, and the Ways and Means Committee is working hard to make sure an opportunity to create good jobs is not missed. "We can’t lose sight of the bigger picture—of what we’re doing and why—because it’s not just our economy that’s on the line," Chairman Ryan said of America’s trade negotiations. "It’s our credibility."

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