Draft GSP, ATPA, FTA Bills & 97 Amendments Available
The Senate Finance Committee has posted the draft bills and Statements of Administrative Action from its canceled “mock” mark-up of the draft implementing bills for the South Korea, Colombia, and Panama Free Trade Agreements, which include provisions for retroactive renewal of GSP, ATPA/ATPDEA and TAA. The Committee has also posted information on the 97 amendments to the draft implementing bills that had been filed prior to the scheduled commencement of the “mock” mark up
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Mock Mark Up Was Opportunity for Committee to Make its Views Known
The draft implementing bills and Statements of Administrative Action are from the Obama Administration, and would have provided an opportunity for members at the mark up to make their views known on the draft bills’ provisions (the FTAs as well as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and Andean1 renewal provisions), which could influence the text of the final FTA implementing bills.
Committee “mock” markups are the only opportunities for Congress to offer amendments to the Administration’s proposals. Following Administration review of any amendments that the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees approve on the draft implementing bills, final versions of the implementing bills would then be submitted to Congress for an up-or-down vote (i.e., no amendments).
Filed Amendments Were Opportunity to Get Others’ Provisions in Implementing Bills
The 97 filed amendments had been suggested by various Senators, and included substantial trade measures on Customs Reauthorization and AD/CV enforcement, as well as measures on Trade Adjustment Assistance, the U.S. beef trade, and issues unrelated to trade. There were 79 amendments filed for the KORUS draft implementing bill, 15 for the Colombia draft, and 3 for the Panama draft.
The posted documents include:
- Summary list of Amendments related to the U.S.-South Korea FTA
- Amendments related to the U.S.- South Korea FTA
- Summary list of Amendments related to the U.S.-Panama TPA
- Amendments related to the U.S.-Panama TPA
- Summary list of Amendments related to the U.S.-Colombia TPA
- Amendments related to the U.S.-Colombia TPA
- U.S.-South Korea FTA Legislative Language
- Chairman’s Modification for Korea Legislative Language
- U.S.-Colombia TPA Legislative Language
- Chairman’s Modification for the Colombia Legislative Language
- U.S.-Panama TPA Legislative Language
- Chairman’s Modification for the Panama Legislative Language
- U.S.-South Korea FTA Statement of Administrative Action
- U.S.-Colombia PTA Statement of Administrative Action
- U.S.-Panama TPA Statement of Administrative Action
1The Andean Trade Preferences Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA)
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 07/01/11 news, 11070103 for BP summary on the canceled mock mark up.
See ITT’s Online Archives or 06/29/11 news, 11062914, for BP summary announcing that the mark up had been scheduled for June 30, and that the GSP and ATPA/ATPDEA provisions were to renew these programs through July 31, 2013, retroactive to their dates of expiration.)
Draft bills, amendents, etc. available here