ADAM ENTOUS, Washington | Wednesday 4.30pm
IN a trade policy victory for President Bill Clinton, the United States Senate on Tuesday revived a White House-backed proposal to extend new trade privileges to Africa and the Caribbean, paving the way for expected passage of the legislation later this week.
Clinton called Tuesday’s vote an ”important milestone” in US relations with Africa, the Caribbean and Central America.
The legislation, backed by the Democratic White House and Republican leaders in the Senate, would grant countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean more duty-free access to US markets.
Eligible African countries will be able to ship more goods to the United States through the General System of Preferences program, which gives developing countries duty-free access to US markets for some goods.
It also would reduce duties on apparel made in the Caribbean and Central America. The benefits will be similar to those already enjoyed by Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
To appease the US textile industry, which opposed a similar bill in the House, the Senate bill will limit duty-free treatment to apparel made from US yarn, fabric and thread.
The bill’s chief sponsor, Finance Committee Chairman William Roth, said the vote should dispel the notion that the Republican-controlled Congress is protectionist. ”It signals that the United States is prepared to engage constructively in the wider world around us and to provide the leadership necessary to achieve our common goals,” said Roth.
If backed by the Senate and if a compromise can be worked out with the House of Representatives, it will be the first major trade bill approved by Congress since 1994, when it authorised US participation in the World Trade Organisation. — Reuters