CRS Says Some Oppose ATPA as Competes with Domestics
The Congressional Research Service has issued a report stating that the trade effects of the Andean Trade Preference Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA) on the U.S. economy have been minimal, and some critics of the ATPA argue that trade preferences should not be extended.
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(ATPDEA expired on February 12, 2011 and attempts to renew it have not yet been successful due, according to some, to issues relating to renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), action on the Colombia free trade agreement (FTA), etc.)
According to the report, the ATPA's trade effects have been minimal because the amount of U.S. trade with the Andean region is low. CRS states that some members of Congress maintain that if ATPA trade preferences are not extended, the U.S. and the Andean countries risk losing some of the economic progress that has been achieved. However, critics argue that unilateral trade programs are ineffective and that the ATPA has forced U.S. producers to compete with lower-cost Andean imports; and that, in cases such as Bolivia and Ecuador, trade preferences should not be extended to countries that do not support U.S. foreign and trade policies.
CRS states the 112th Congress may reevaluate the extension of ATPA trade preferences for one or more of the beneficiary countries and policymakers may also consider broader reform of U.S. trade preference programs, including the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/12/11 news, 11051142, for BP summary of Secretary of State Clinton's remarks on the pending FTAs, ATPA, TAA, etc.)
(CRS RS22548, dated 04/14/11)