Crapo: We Are Committed to Renewing AGOA, Haiti Trade Programs
Nine legislative days before three trade preference programs expire, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said both he and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., are working to make sure the tariff breaks for these developing countries continue past Sept. 30.
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The bills to reauthorize the African Growth and Opportunity Act and Haiti's HOPE and HELP could move through the House under suspension, and senators could request unanimous consent for their renewal. Or the programs could be attached to a temporary spending bill that also must pass Congress to keep the federal government open past Sept. 30.
When asked about these options by an International Trade Today reporter, Crapo said Sept. 10: "There's a number of options out there being viewed and the determination between us and the House, how we move forward has not been finalized yet."
He added, "Everything is being discussed. That's kind of why it's hard to answer your question. There's no vehicle that is possible that isn't being evaluated."
"But I can tell you that there's a strong commitment on my part, and on Jason Smith's part, to get AGOA and Haiti reauthorized, and I hope we can do it for as long-term as possible. But again, I can't tell you what can be achieved at this point."
The last time AGOA and Haitian trade preferences were reauthorized, in 2015, a House version passed by voice vote, and passed the Senate 97-1, but the two versions were not the same, and the House made a further amendment to the Senate version, and then the Senate accepted that, but made another change that the House had to vote on again. The process took three months from Ways and Means committee markup to passing Congress.
That trade package also included a renewal for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, which no longer is in effect, and changes to antidumping duty and countervailing duty laws.
There is widespread support for AGOA and Haitian trade preferences in the Democratic party.
Finance Committee member Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said of the effort to renew AGOA, "I certainly hope we will keep it, and I intend to advocate."
Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., told ITT that Democrats would like to make some changes to AGOA, "but we do want to reauthorize it, so it's in the hands of the chairman."
She said that Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, and she just introduced a bill to extend the Haitian trade preferences, "so we're hoping to sort of create some pressure for the chairman of the committee to consider it."
That bill would extend the preferences for 10 years, and add enforcement authorities for labor standards.