Obama suffers big loss as trade bill is defeated at hands of Democrats - latimes

President Obama's ambitious trade agenda unraveled Friday in a stunning setback delivered by his own party as the House rejected an important piece of a package aimed at fast-tracking a controversial trade pact he is pursuing with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

Hoping to salvage what could be a key part of his legacy, Obama dashed to Capitol Hill before the vote Friday for a rare early morning meeting with Democrats. But amid fears that a trade deal would hurt American workers, even Obama's dramatic personal intervention failed to generate the Democratic votes needed to bolster his unusual alliance with pro-trade Republicans.

The White House dismissed the vote as a “procedural snafu” and vowed to salvage the trade legislation when the House votes again next week.

Trade is a major driver of California's economy, so the ultimate outcome of the Pacific deal will affect many businesses and workers in the state. California is home to the nation's busiest ports and a big exporter of electronics, farm products, machinery and many other goods and services — much of that going to Pacific Rim countries, including those involved in the negotiations.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership would be one of the world's largest and most ambitious trade efforts ever, aimed at removing barriers and establishing rules on investment and commerce affecting 40% of the global economy.

The Obama administration has held up the Pacific trade partnership as the economic centerpiece of its strategy to focus more on that fast-growing and increasingly wealthy region, arguing that the trade accord would be good for the American economy and ensure that the U.S., not China, writes the economic rules in Asia-Pacific. - Read More at latimes

Obama suffers big loss as trade bill is defeated at hands of Democrats

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