Industry encouraged by Senate trade actions

The Senate on Thursday passed two key trade bills and paved the way toward re-instituting trade promotion authority for the president.    Numerous trade groups were encouraged by the action taken in the U.S. Senate on Thursday to pass two key trade bills and pave the way toward re-instituting trade promotion authority for the president.
   The bills passed by the Senate include the 2015 Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (S. 1269), also known as the Customs Reauthorization bill, and the 2015 Trade Preferences Extension Act (S. 1267), which contains duty-free and trade facilitation program extensions for the Generalized System of Preferences and African Growth and Opportunity Act. 
   The Senate also secured 65 votes to make a motion to debate Trade Promotion Authority and Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation.
   “U.S. business is pleased that the Senate has finally approved the customs reauthorization legislation,” said U.S. Council for International Business President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Robinson in a statement. “This new bill will facilitate trade by helping American businesses be more competitive within their global supply chains.”
   He also said customs reauthorization is crucial to implementing the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, as Customs and Border Protection and other U.S. agencies have a role to play in assisting developing countries implement the agreement through technical assistance and capacity building.
   “Companies need regulatory certainty for GSP and AGOA duty preference extension so they can plan sourcing of raw materials for making finished American-made products which are competitive in the global marketplace,” said Marianne Rowden, the American Association of Exporters and Importers’ president and CEO.  
   “Renewal of these trade preferences will provide an immediate benefit to our members. Among the measures included in the Senate trade preferences bill is the renewal and update of the GSP program, a program that has expired and is costing small businesses approximately $2 million a day,” said Juanita D. Duggan, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. 
   “We urge the House to move quickly to pass the trade preferences bill and for the Senate to conclude debate and pass TPA as soon as possible,” Duggan added.
   President Obama has been without trade promotion authority for much of his administration, and the lack of authority has made it difficult for the administration to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement with 11 Pacific Rim countries. U.S. diplomats are also negotiating the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union, as well as a trade services agreement through the World Trade Organization. TPA is considered an essential tool for convincing other nations that any agreement won’t be undermined by U.S. legislators.