Congress prepares to debate Australian free trade agreement

Congress prepares to debate Australian free trade agreement    The House Ways and Means Committee informally approved draft legislation to implement the U.S.-Australia free trade agreement to help guide the Bush administration in creating the formal documents to be presented to Congress for ratification.
   Once the administration formally submits the documents under its trade promotion authority, Congress cannot amend them and must vote up or down on the whole trade bill.
   Under the free trade agreement signed May 18, nearly all duties on industrial goods will be duty-free immediately. Australia will also open markets to services, most agriculture products and set standards in areas such as electronic commerce and intellectual property rights.
   'The U.S-Australia free trade agreement has been called the 'manufacturer's FTA' because of the tremendous immediate duty-free benefits it brings to U.S. manufacturers,' said Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the committee, in a statement. 'Although I wish the agreement had gone even further in key areas, I believe it is a 21st century agreement that reflects the modern worldwide economy.'