Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, making the most politically fraught decision on trade of his 34 years in Congress, on Thursday reached an agreement with key Republicans on a crucial bill laying the groundwork for a massive Pacific Rim trade agreement.

Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the finance committee, won a series of concessions from the finance committee chairman, Utah's Orrin Hatch, as well as from House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on a "fast-track" trade bill setting out the rules for congressional consideration of the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership involving 12 countries.

The agreement, announced by Wyden early Thursday afternoon, did not quiet criticism from organized labor and other opponents of free-trade pacts who have heavily lobbied Wyden not to reach a deal with Hatch and Ryan. Several groups have threatened to fight against his 2016 re-election because of his stance on this issue.

However, the agreement could help sway eight to 15 Senate Democrats who are believed to be on the fence on the fast-track bill. For that reason, President Barack Obama and Hatch worked hard to bring Wyden onboard.

"I'm proud this bipartisan bill creates what I expect to be unprecedented transparency in trade negotiations, and ensures future trade deals break new ground to promote human rights, improve labor conditions, and safeguard the environment," Wyden said in a statement.

In a later committee hearing, Oregon's senior senator argued that "we are on our way to a modern trade policy that strengthens the middle class, expands economic opportunity, creates high skill, high wage jobs at home."

A number of companies - including Intel, Oregon's largest private employer - praised the agreement and said the Trans-Pacific Partnership would help expand exports to the growing economies of the Pacific Rim. Obama, who has parted ways with most congressional Democrats on trade, also praised the agreement reached Thursday.

"The bill put forward today would help us write those rules in a way that avoids the mistakes from our past, seizes opportunities for our future, and stays true to our values," the president said in a statement. "It would level the playing field, give our workers a fair shot, and for the first time, include strong fully enforceable protections for workers' rights, the environment, and a free and open Internet."

But critics said they saw little new in the agreement that would change the path of trade deals they believe have hurt workers while making it easier for corporations to increase profits by shipping jobs overseas.

"They've dressed up fast track to make it look like Congress will have a real role in this pending agreement. Not so," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a long-time opponent of free-trade pacts.

The concessions won by Wyden in the new fast track bill are aimed at forcing the Obama administration to include several mandates in final negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The fast track bill - formally known as Trade Promotion Authority - calls for an up-or-down vote in Congress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other future trade deals. Both sides agree that this fast-track authority, which prohibits attempts to amend a trade pact, is crucial to determining whether Asian trade deal comes to fruition.

The Wyden-Hatch-Ryan deal includes these provisions:

--The final wording of the Trans-Pacific Partnership has to be made public at least 60 days before Obama signs any agreement. Congressional action likely would take another two months, which Wyden said gives the public and lawmakers plenty of time to understand and debate the provisions in the trade pact, which is still under final negotiations.

--The partnership would have to include enforceable labor, environmental and human rights standards, the latter of which Wyden says has not been included before in a U.S. trade pact.

--The partnership would be required to prevent local censorship of the Internet.

--A bill to provide assistance to workers who lose their jobs because of trade agreements must move in tandem with the fast-track bill through Congress. Wyden said it would expand coverage to include not just manufacturing workers but those in service jobs as well.

--Trade officials would have new enforcement measures aimed at cracking down more quickly on violations of the trade agreement.

--A super-majority of 60 senators could decide to remove fast-track authority after they see the final terms of the partnership.

High-tech industry leaders were particularly forceful in defending the deal, saying that they can best preserve their jobs at home by preserving and expanding their strong share of the international market.

"We conduct roughly three-quarters of Intel's advanced manufacturing and R&D right here at home in the U.S.," said Lisa Malloy, Intel's director of policy communications and government relations for Intel, "for investments which are supported by the more than three-quarters of our revenue from sales elsewhere in the world. This dynamic can't continue without building sound trading partners."

But opponents argued that the provisions didn't amount to much. Elizabeth Swager of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign argued that it is too late to give public access to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement after negotiations are complete.

Wyden has "signed off on legislation that would make transparency in trade negotiations qualitatively worse," Swager said in a statement. "This is a betrayal of Oregon's working families and of democratic policymaking, and Oregonians won't stand for it."

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who has expressed skepticism about the trade pacts, said Thursday that he would wait to read the terms of the deal before drawing judgment on the legislation. But he did say that the provision allowing 60 senators to jettison the fast track wouldn't provide much of a safeguard.

"It's not an off-switch if it takes 60 votes," he said.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the fast track bill "another bad deal that lowers wages and outsources jobs." The labor federation announced it would began an ad campaign urging Oregon members of Congress to oppose the bill.

Tom Potiowsky, a Portland State University economics professor and former state economist, said he believed gthe state had generally benefited from trade agreements. But "you're going to find some who have lost out on these" deals, he said.

Potiowsky said Oregon's high-tech and agricultural industries have tended to gain from expanded international trade. But he said some manufacturers, such as furniture makers, have found it increasingly hard to compete with low-cost imports. And many smaller retailers have found it harder to compete with giants like WalMart that can import large quantities of lower-cost goods.

With the Wyden-Hatch-Ryan deal in hand, the fast track bill is now expected to move through the Senate Finance Committee and go to the Senate floor.

-- Jeff Mapes

503-221-8209

@Jeffmapes