Industry News

Senate Passes Peru FTA Implementation Legislation
December 5, 2007

Yesterday, the Senate passed the Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) implementing legislation (H.R. 3688) by a vote of 77 to 18.  As previously reported, the House of Representatives passed the same measure on November 8, 2007.  The bill will now go to the President, who has stated that he will sign it into law.  This is the first free trade agreement approved by Congress that incorporates the labor and environmental standards agreed to in May 2007.

Note, the PTPA will not take effect when the President signs H.R. 3688 into law.  Rather, there are steps other than the enactment of this legislation that must be taken to bring U.S. and Peruvian laws into conformity with the PTPA, including the issuance of a Presidential Proclamation that amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS).

President Bush and United States Trade Representative Schwab now urge Congress to consider and approve the pending free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.