Smaller Trade Program Renewal Bill Would Help with TPA Action, Says AAFA
The new chairmen of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees should move quickly to address expired or expiring trade programs, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in a Jan. 7 letter to the lawmakers. The committee chairmen, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, "have an historic opportunity to expand US trade," the association said. The AAFA encouraged "immediate enactment of legislation to renew expired and expiring trade programs, such as the Generalized System of Preferences, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and the Nicaragua Tariff Preference Level. The AGOA program is set to expire later this year, while GSP and the Nicaragua programs are already expired.
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The lapses in the trade programs create additional costs for U.S. businesses and casts "doubt into U.S. leadership on trade," said the AAFA. Many consider a Trade Promotion Authority bill as a likely vehicle for a number of other trade bills, but "early action on this smaller trade package will support trade-based jobs in the United States and will signal immediate re-engagement to our trading partners," it said. A smaller trade package could also "pave the way for swift action" on TPA, it said. "At a time when other nations are rapidly forging special trade deals with each other or erecting new barriers to keep out U.S.-made and U.S.-branded products, we cannot afford to remain without this crucial authority," the trade group said.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the letter.