fast-track trade authority

A congressionally approved trade process that gives the president the authority to negotiate trade agreements and requires Congress to vote on such agreements within 90 days (an expedited schedule) without amending them. Enacted in December 2001, fast-track trade authority was intended to speed up the approval of trade agreements in order to show foreign countries that the United States would act quickly on the provisional agreements. The U.S. president had not had fast-track authority since April 1994, when concerns over the impact of trade agreements on the environment and on labor practices temporarily ended the authority.