Senate Finance Approves Russian PNTR, AGOA Third-Country Fabric Provision Bills

The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation July 18 that would give permanent normal trade relations status to Russia and repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which has been in place since 1974 to restrict trade with communist countries. Text of the bill is (here). The committee considered several pieces of trade legislation during the July 18 markup.

(See ITT's Online Archives 12061238 for summary of the Russian PNTR bill introduction. See ITT's Online Archive 12071825 for summary of the committee's approval of S-1133, meant to reduce AD/CV duty evasion.)

Committee Chairman Sen. Mac Baucus (D-Mont.) pushed Congress to act quickly to approve the bill. “Russia will formally be a member of the WTO next month, so that is Congress’s deadline for passing PNTR," he said. "There is no time to waste -- America risks being left behind. If Congress misses that deadline, American farmers, ranchers, workers and businesses will lose out to the other 154 members of the WTO that already have PNTR with Russia." A press report said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was expected to wait until the House moves on similar legislation before the full Senate would vote on the bill. A Senate Finance press release on the July 18 markup is (here).

The committee also approved AGOA legislation, S-3326, said to improve U.S. trade with sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. The bill would extend a key provision of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), extending a Third-Country Fabric (TCF) provision that allows African countries to use third-country fabric and then export that into the U.S. The Republic of South Sudan would also be added to the list of 48 sub-Saharan nations eligible to qualify for duty-free access to the U.S. market for certain products, including apparel, footwear and textiles.

That legislation would also make technical changes to the CAFTA-DR textiles and apparel provisions. The changes were agreed to by Trade Ministers during the February 2011 CAFTA-DR Free Trade Commission meetings and all CAFTA-DR countries except the U.S. have already approved the changes this legislation codifies. The bill would also reauthorize import sanctions against Burma for three years, while preserving the Administration’s right to waive or terminate those sanctions. Text of the bill is (here).

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk gave his support for the measure. “It is critical for workers and businesses in the U.S. and Africa that we extend this key provision before it is due to expire in September, he said. "Just last week, I visited a textile factory in Ghana that will likely have to close its doors and lay off nearly 500 employees if Third-Country Fabric expires - and that is just one example, ”

(See ITT's Online Archives 12062235 for summary of the AGOA legislation.)