OAS urges extension of Caribbean trade pact

OAS urges extension of Caribbean trade pact Organization of American States Secretary General Jos' Miguel Insulza testified before the U.S. International Trade Commission Tuesday that the United States needs to renew the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act before it expires in September.
   Insulza told the commission that allowing the law to expire would have 'an extremely deleterious effect' on Caribbean economies, according to a report from Washington on the Web site Caribbean News Net.
   The public hearing drew representatives from several Caribbean nations, who were lobbying Washington to renew the law.
   The CBTPA took effect in 2000 during the Clinton administration, replacing the old Caribbean Basin Initiative adopted in 1983. The CBTPA provides tariff breaks and other trade preferences to the 23 independent countries in the Caribbean, including preferential tariff treatment for textile and apparel products assembled in the Caribbean from U.S.-produced materials. The purpose of that part of the law is to increase exports of U.S. cotton and other materials while stimulating Caribbean economies.
   Insulza also called for expanding the law to include trade in services and financial services.
   'An expanded CBTPA could provide for the establishment of local banks within the U.S., which is the main gateway for these transmissions, to accept deposits and make the transfers back to their home countries,' he said. 'This mechanism would strengthen the capital base of these banks and also expand the ability of local banking institutions to provide sorely needed funding for investment and entrepreneurial development.'