House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) told reporters on Sept. 7 that the House could still vote this year on a trade package that would contain an extension of programs that would otherwise expire in the near future. He said that such a package could contain an extension of the Generalized System of Preferences, but not of fast-track negotiating authority.

Fast-track negotiating authority does not expire until next July and is “too major” to include in such a package, Thomas said. He said the trick is to devise a package of measures that will not cause it to become a difficult trade vote and that could instead pass under the suspension of House rules. This would mean a limited debate but would require approval of a trade package by a two-thirds majority.

“You’ve got to prioritize what you’re doing,” Thomas said. “I think you have a chance to do something on GSP that could make a suspension calendar and therefore have a better chance of passage now,” Thomas said. He did not elaborate if he would try to move a straight extension of the program or alter it in ways that would exclude certain beneficiaries or curtail its product benefits for competitive recipients.

He held open the possibility that such a package could move before the House adjourns on Sept. 29. The Senate could then move the package “as one of those things they always do at the end,” he said.

He seemed cool to do an extension of the Andean Trade Preferences and Drug Eradication Act for Ecuador and Bolivia, which will expire at the end of the year. He said he did not plan to do that “in this period” that he otherwise envisioned for the trade package.

He also signaled he did not see an extension of the ATPDEA preferences for Colombia and Peru. In an apparent reference to those countries’ free-trade agreements with the U.S., Thomas said the U.S. had “substitutes” for preferences that are “permanent and better.”

Thomas did not indicate when his committee would consider the Peru FTA and only said it is an “ongoing process.” He also did not mention a bill granting permanent most favored nation status to Vietnam in his comments. This is a priority for the business community and the White House, which wants Congress to act before President Bush’s visit to that country in mid-November (Inside U.S. Trade, Sept. 8,p.1).

The only other specific measure Thomas suggested could be included in the trade package was an extension of the provision in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) that allows duty-free entry to the U.S. for a limited amount of apparel containing fabric from anywhere in the world. The extension of this provision is a priority for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).

He signaled the trade agenda would be sharpened up over the next few days and months. Business sources for weeks have been suggesting that the only way Congress could deal with a host of outstanding trade measures by the end of the year would be to group them into a package (Inside U.S. Trade, Sept. 1, p. 10).

The House and Senate only have three weeks, including holidays, before they are scheduled to adjourn in order to campaign for the elections. The House is expected to return for a post-election session on Nov. 13.

Jeff Vogt
Global Economic Policy Specialist,
Legislation Department
AFL-CIO
815 16th Street, N.W., Room 7057
Washington, D.C. 20006
Ph: (202) 637-3904
Fax: (202) 508-6967