Hey Folks, just got back from a week off and was surprised by how many trade articles popped up while I was gone. I'll try to collect them into a few different e-mails so no one e-mail gets too big. Hope all is well!
-Rachel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congress vows action on Australian tradeBy JIM
ABRAMS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Congressional leaders on Thursday pledged to move quickly to ratify an agreement that would make Australia one of the few nations enjoying a free trade relationship with the United States.
That assurance came as Australian Prime Minister John Howard told President Bush in a White House meeting that he was committed to keeping his country's 850 troops in Iraq.
The House Ways and Means Committee said it would schedule hearings on June 16 on the free trade deal. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he planned hearings on June 15. Votes in the House and Senate could come before Congress leaves for its August recess.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said of the agreement, "We'll do it without much delay. Hastert, R-Ill., had at one time threatened to hold up House action until he got a report from the U.S. Trade Representative on how foreign countries subsidize their drug industries.
Lawmakers stressed the strong ties between the United States and Australia.
"This agreement solidifies the economic component of that relationship," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif.
By contrast, Congress has given a cool reception to the signing last week of a major trade agreement with five Central American countries. The chances of Congress acting on the Central American Free Trade Agreement this year are regarded as slim.
Many Democrats said provisions in that pact that were intended to protect the environment and labor rights were too weak. Lawmakers from both parties worried that lowered trade barriers would hurt the textile makers and sugar producers in their districts.
But little resistance has surfaced to the agreement with Australia, signed on May 18, because the standards of living, economies and legal systems of the two countries are similar.
If the agreement goes into effect, 99 percent of industrial goods in both countries will become duty-free immediately. That will result in an estimated $2 billion annual growth in exports of U.S. manufactured products.
American agricultural exports to Australia would receive immediate duty-free status. U.S. negotiators won lengthy phase-in periods for increases in the imports of Australian beef and dairy products. There would be no increase in Australian sugar exports to the United States.
"This agreement is good for both countries, and our Congress and the Australian parliament should ratify the free trade agreement as soon as possible," Bush said as he was joined by Howard outside the White House. "I assured the prime minister that I'll work with leadership in the Congress, in our Congress, to move this agreement forward."
Howard said that "from Australia's point of view, this is a great opportunity to link our strong economy with the strongest economy the world has ever seen."
The United States also has recently completed work on trade deals with Morocco and Bahrain. It is questionable whether Congress will consider those agreements during an election year when both sides are sensitive about any legislation that could affect American jobs.
With ratification, Australia would join Canada, Mexico, Israel, Jordan, Singapore and Chile as countries with bilateral free trade agreements with the United States.
Rachel Sherman
Legislative Assistant
Congressman
Mike Michaud
(202) 225-6306