Industry News

Congressional Committees Approve Draft FTA Bills in Mock Mark-Ups

July 11, 2011


The Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee each passed draft implementing bills for the Korea, Colombia, and Panama free trade agreements (FTAs) on July 7, 2011. While the Senate Finance Committee passed a draft implementing bill for the Korea FTA which included a modified version of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), the House Ways and Means Committee version did not include TAA. Additionally, both the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee included provisions in their draft bills to increase the merchandise processing fee (MPF) on formal entries and to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and Andean Trade Preferences Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA). The House Ways and Means Committee proposed increasing the MPF on formal entries to .3464%, while the Senate Finance Committee proposed to increase the MPF on formal entries to .343%. Both Committees rejected amendments to address the Colombia Labor Action Plan in the draft Colombia FTA implementing bill. Whether or not to include TAA in the final implementing bills remains the primary obstacle to Congress reaching a vote on the three FTAs.

For further information, continue to visit www.barnesrichardson.com or contact a Barnes/Richardson attorney.