Yesterday, Congress introduced Trade Promotion Authority legislation, also known as TPA or “fast track” — a series of guidelines for trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership the Obama administration is currently working on.

When OFA supporters had the chance to ask one of the President’s closest advisors about the administration’s plans to pursue a progressive trade agreement, we heard a lot of questions about what it would look like, and ​on the process surrounding how it gets done.

Now that Congress has taken a step forward, it’s time for an update.

Let’s start with the basics: What’s the TPA?
Simply put, it’s how Congress sets the rules of the road for trade negotiations. They set guidelines that the President and the administration use to negotiate an agreement with other nations.

Trade agreements typically take years to negotiate, and though the TPA is often called “fast track,” that’s a bit of a misnomer. TPA is a bill like any other (it must go through both the Senate and the House, and then be signed by the President), and it’s just the first step in a months-long process of public and congressional review before any deal would be voted on. This has been the trade agreement process for decades. In fact, presidents on both sides of the aisle have been relying on Congress to pass versions of the TPA since 1974.

What happens after TPA?
The rules set by Congress through the TPA guide the framework for the final trade ​agreement — the President’s team will then negotiate the deal on the international stage according to the principles laid out, and if the bill released yesterday is passed, they will bring the finished deal to Congress for an up-or-down vote.

The good news is that this bill ensures progressive values, like enforceable labor and environment standards, will be part of the agreement — and that the entire process is transparent.

Why should people pay attention now?
It’s pretty important for working families and for the economy that we get this right. U.S. exports — supported by expanding trade — have contributed nearly a third of our economic growth in the recovery, supporting more than 11.7 million jobs according to the International Trade ​Administration​​, and almost 300,000 small and medium-sized businesses in every state according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative​.​

Trade agreements are also our best chance to set enforceable labor and environmental protections with new trading partners, instead of letting China set rules that put our workers at a disadvantage.

President Obama has been clear about one big part of this: We can’t repeat mistakes of the past, when workers weren’t well represented. As he said a few weeks ago, “past trade deals haven’t always lived up to the hype. That’s why I’ve made it clear that I won’t sign any agreement that doesn’t put American workers first.”

You can learn more about the President’s approach to crafting a progressive trade agreement, and the process behind the TPA in this blog from the White House:

barackobama.com

You probably have friends who have questions about this, too. Please forward this email along — and stay tuned. We’ll keep you updated on what happens from here.

Thanks — more soon,

Sara

Sara El-Amine
Executive Director
Organizing for Action

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By Jon Erdman

Super Typhoon Maysak is moving off to the northwest on a path that will take it near or across the northern Philippines this weekend. As of the Wednesday evening advisory issued by the National Weather Service in Guam, winds have decreased to 150 mph. Additional slow weakening is forecast in the coming days.

Early this week, Super Typhoon Maysak rapidly intensified into the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. According to Weather Underground’s Dr. Jeff Masters, Maysak is only the third super typhoon in reliable records dating to the 1940s with estimated winds that strong prior to April.

Maysak is also only the fifth super typhoon of record prior to April 1, according to senior digital meteorologist, Nick Wiltgen. A western Pacific tropical cyclone is named a “super typhoon” when maximum sustained winds reach 150 mph. The last such pre-April super typhoon was Super Typhoon Mitag in March 2002.

Prior to becoming a super typhoon, Maysak caused significant damage and killed at least five people in the Chuuk state of Micronesia, according to The Associated Press. Maysak’s eye passed just north of Yap Island on Wednesday, local time. Winds gusted up to 48 mph at Yap International Airport.

It’s too early to tell how heavily Maysak will impact the northern Philippines at this time. The latest forecast indicates that Maysak will be much weaker by that point, possibly impacting Luzon Island in the northern Philippines as the equivalent of a Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane.

Even though Maysak will be weaker by that point, significant impacts are still possible, including strong winds, flooding and mudslides.

(FORECAST: Manila | Tacloban)

(INTERACTIVE: Current Satellite Loop of Maysak)

Maysak Forecast Path

Maysak Forecast Path

Forecast path and peak sustained winds of Maysak over the next five days. Circles denote uncertainty in the position of the center at each forecast point.  (Weather Underground)

Typhoon Maysak first impacted Chuuk State, a group of Micronesian islands about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southeast of Guam. Winds gusted as high as 71 mph Chuuk International Airport on Weno Island in the Chuuk State of Micronesian on Sunday, local time. (Chuuk is 14 hours ahead of eastern daylight time.)

Guampdn.com reported about 95 percent of tin houses were destroyed in Chuuk state. Communications were down in the islands Saturday, but were restored Sunday. Kane Faylim, airport manager for the Chuuk state government told the Associated Press airport employees had clear rocks deposited by large waves from the runway of Chuuk’s airstrip Tuesday, which has now been reopened.

Maysak became the third typhoon of 2015, a record active early start to the year in the western Pacific, according to Weather Underground’s director of meteorology, Dr. Jeff Masters.

Western Pacific Ocean tropical cyclones, called typhoons, can occur any time of the year, but typically hit a relative minimum in February and early March.

The name Maysak is Cambodian for a kind of tree.

Earlier in March, Tropical Cyclone Pam made a direct hit on the southern islands of Vanuatu in the south Pacific.

(PAM: Before/After Imagery | How You Can Help | Four Tropical Cyclones At Once)

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Cyclone Pam’s Devastation (Mar. 2015)

Samuel (L) and his father Phillip search through the ruins of their family home on March 16, 2015 in Port Vila, Vanuatu. (Dave Hunt-Pool/Getty Images)