Republican disapproval of the administration decision to include a worker retraining program in a long pending free trade agreement with Korea, has created an impasse that could stymie approval of the Korea FTA as well as the U.S. agreements with Panama and Colombia… Bill Reisch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, criticized the Republican plan to boycott the mock markup, calling it the “Senate’s equivalent of a temper tantrum,” and urged rapid passage of the trade agreements. [Reinsch] called Congress “to do the right thing” by passing the legislation regarding the three FTAs “with no amendments.”
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Category: NFTC In the News
Republicans Boycott of Free-Trade Accords Derails Obama Push for Swift Vote
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-30/republican-boycott-of-free-trade-accords-derails-obama-push-for-swift-vote.htmlA Republican boycott of a Senate hearing on three free-trade agreements set back efforts by President Barack Obama and business groups to get the long- delayed accords completed before a recess in August. The Senate Finance Committee was unable to consider trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama yesterday because no Republicans showed up, denying Democrats a quorum to advance measures that have languished since 2007. Republicans balked at including aid for displaced workers in the trade package. “I don’t understand why the Republicans are playing it out like this,” William Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a Washington-based group that represents companies such as Boeing Co. (BA), said in an interview. “They spent 2 1/2 years waiting for Obama to send these up. He basically folded, and as these things go the price was cheap.”
U.S. Groups Urge Congress Reject China Currency Bill
Taking yes for an answer on “zeroing
NFTC President Bill Reinsch Provides Insight on “Zeroing”
On Wednesday, The Hill’s Congress Blog published an opinion piece on “zeroing” by NFTC President Bill Reinsch.
He wrote:
“Sometimes, when you try to do the right thing, everyone winds up unhappy.
“That seems to be the case when it comes to the Obama Administration’s response to a series of decisions at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that how the U.S. government determines whether a company is dumping goods into the country violates WTO rules.
“Over the past several months, the Obama administration has quietly set in motion a process to comply with WTO rulings regarding the use of “zeroing” in calculating dumping margins.
“What ought to be viewed as a good-faith effort to comply with our international trade obligations has instead turned into a Christmas tree of complaints. U.S. trading partners continue to suggest that the United States hasn’t complied as quickly or completely as they would like, while supporters of the practice in Congress and elsewhere are upset that the administration has done anything at all.
“While it’s easy to find fault in the byzantine world of antidumping regulations, both sides are missing the larger picture. The Administration has taken a politically-difficult step to bring the United States into compliance with its trade obligations, which is good for the country and for the trading system.”
To read the full op-ed, visit: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/167863-taking-yes-for-an-answer-on-zeroing
Groups Urge USTR To Reject Proposal Restricting International Standards Choice
China Drops Turbine Part Subsidies After WTO Challenge
The End Of China’s Wind Subsidy Program And The Future Of Global Clean Technology Markets
Tobacco Pleads For Pack Delay
White House Holds Trade Pacts Until Deal Struck On Aid Program
Excerpt: The Obama administration will not submit three pending trade deals for congressional approval until lawmakers agree to renew an aid program for U.S. Workers… The administration can turn to business groups for support for renewal of TAA. Lobbyists for several trade associations have said that the aid program needs to be reauthorized alongside the pending free trade deals. Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, said business groups have long favored renewing TAA and have made the case repeatedly to lawmakers to reauthorize the aid program. “There’s an obvious deal to be made here, and our message to both sides has been to get on with it. That message won’t change either, and you can expect us to encourage both the administration and the Congress to move on the FTAs, TAA and the expired preference programs,” Reinsch said. “If they don’t, the consequences are lost jobs and exports for America, more hardship for our unemployed workers and lost opportunities for poor people in developing countries,” Reinsch said. “This is a no-brainer!”
About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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