U.S. House passes bill with maritime ?tonnage tax?

U.S. House passes bill with maritime ætonnage taxÆ    The U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 251-117, has passed the Corporate Tax Bill (H.R. 4520), also known as the FSC/ETI bill.
This legislation would repeal a $50-billion subsidy for exporting corporations that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled illegal.
   Since the WTO verdict, the European Union has imposed an 8 percent tariff on a number of U.S. exports, and will increase those tariffs by 1 percent every month until the subsidy is lifted.
   The bill replaces the $50-billion subsidy with a variety of tax cuts and reforms that could save U.S. corporations as much as $150 billion. One of the tax reforms is the 'tonnage tax' originally proposed by Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La., which would change the existing tax structure for U.S.-flag vessel operators who must pay significantly higher taxes than their foreign-based competitors. Jefferson's provision allows companies to elect a U.S. tax regime based on the tonnage of a taxpayer's U.S.-flag fleet, in lieu of regular income tax, a method similar to systems used in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Norway and Denmark.
   Differences between the House and Senate versions of this bill are going to make negotiations very difficult. Despite the EU's increasingly tariffs, the bill is not expected to reach final consideration until late summer, and may be pushed back until after the November elections.