Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today urged Congress to extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA), the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) before adjourning for the year. The NFTC noted that the bill introduced by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin (H.R. 6517) is a useful legislative vehicle to extend all four programs, although there are other approaches that could achieve the same result. NFTC President Bill Reinsch and NFTC Vice President for Regional Trade Initiatives Chuck Dittrich released the following statement.
“TAA, GSP, ATPA and MTB are central to U.S. competitiveness, export growth and job creation. We strongly urge the House and Senate to put political differences aside and work together in the time remaining in this session to extend all four,” said Reinsch. “Allowing these programs to expire would put at risk U.S. export growth and jobs both here in the United States and in many of the countries with which we trade. In addition, any lapse in the preference programs could jeopardize critical trading relationships we maintain around the globe, opening the door to our competitors. A lapse in the expanded TAA provisions would remove these important benefits from service workers and others who are committed to developing the skills needed to re-enter the global workforce. We simply cannot afford to let these programs expire at the end of the year.”
“TAA provides an economic lifeline to U.S. workers who have been adversely affected by trade, and helps them acquire new skills needed for re-entry into the workforce. The preference programs aid complementary sectors of many of our trading partners’ economies. All of the programs play a critical role in our international trade policy, and are of vital importance to the thousands they serve,” said Dittrich. “The NFTC has consistently advocated for extensions of these programs, and it is with a sense of urgency, that we ask Congress to move forward with their renewal as soon as possible before adjournment.”
About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Over 95 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.
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