WASHINGTON, United States (Reuters):
Congress returned yesterday for a lightning end-of-the-year session, but several important trade bills for developing countries and United States (U.S.) exporters faced an uncertain fate, congressional aides said.
Top among trade legislation pending for months are normalised trade ties with Vietnam, tariff reductions for more than 130 developing countries, special duty breaks for Andean countries and trade preferences for Haiti and Africa.
If Congress fails to act this week on trade, those bills will be shuffled forward to the new, Democratic-led Congress that takes over in January. Even if the bills are approved in 2007, the delay could have costly consequences for beneficiary countries and many U.S. companies.
Kevin Smith, spokesman for Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, said one item under 'active discussion' was Permanent Normalised Trade Relations (PNTR) with Vietnam.
An initial vote on PNTR with Vietnam, whose booming economy has piqued the interest of businesses here, failed last month, days before President George Bush attended a summit in Hanoi.
"No decisions have been made yet" on putting the Vietnam measure to a House vote this week, Smith said. Congressional aides say trade bills might be attached to a tax bill that could come up for a vote on Thursday or Friday.
The Senate will consider acting on Vietnam if the House of Representatives does, the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said in a statement.
Fluid situation
"The situation is very fluid right now, very fluid," said Nicole Venable, a trade lobbyist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "What's in and out is changing by the hour."
Smith said no decision had been made either on a vote to extend tariff reductions for Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador under the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) which expires on December 31.
Peru and Colombia want to see ATPDEA extended, especially as hopes fade for quick approval of the bilateral trade deals Bogota and Lima signed with U.S. officials this year.
Andean countries this week launched a last-minute lobbying push to renew ATPDEA, but it is unclear which countries Congress would include in the programme if it is renewed.
Some members of Congress, like outgoing Senate Finance Committee chair Charles Grassley, have advocated excluding Bolivia and Ecuador.
Also expiring at the end of the year is the Generalised System of Preferences, a package of tariff breaks for products from more than 130 developing countries.
U.S. businesses don't want to see a disruption in the GSP preferences - or any others - because they provide investors with stability and ensure affordable supplies.
But some lawmakers want to cut off more prosperous GSP beneficiaries like Brazil and India, which have also spoken out against U.S. subsidies and trade policy in world trade talks.
Businesses also want action on textile preferences for African countries and to deepen preferences for Haiti, but some in the U.S. textile industry oppose more breaks for Haiti.
