News & Insights

NFTC Commends CRS Clarification onOman FTA

Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) praised the release of today’s Congressional Research Service report which provided ample evidence that neither port security nor the ability of the U.S. government to block investments deemed to threaten national security would be at issue in the pending U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

“The port security charge has been used erroneously by opponents of the agreement.  National security is of paramount importance, and no free trade agreement – including this one – has altered that premise,” said Bill Reinsch, president of NFTC, which manages the U.S.-Middle East Free Trade Coalition. “We’ve known the security charges were a red herring, now we have the proof.”

With a House floor vote on the U.S.-Oman FTA pending, today’s CRS report should clear one of the obstacles to final approval.  The Senate approved the Oman FTA by a wide bipartisan margin on June 29.

The U.S.-Oman agreement is essential to expanding U.S. business opportunities in a number of different industries and service sectors, including but not limited to, healthcare, transportation and engineering. Under the provisions of the FTA, industrial and consumer goods will be traded duty-free.

In addition to expanding U.S. business opportunities, the U.S.-Oman FTA will help advance market-oriented economic reforms and demonstrate to other nations in the Middle East the benefits of liberalized trade. Two-way trade between the U.S. and Oman reached $1.2 billion during 2005 with $593 million of this coming from U.S. exports.

Advancing Global Commerce for Over 90 Years

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.