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CONGRESS
A trade bill passed by the Senate late last month will be tough to reconcile with the version the House passed last December, but industry associations are hoping it will be signed by President George W. Bush before the July congressional recess. The bill expands trade preferences to four Andean nations and includes trade adjustment assistance to aid workers who lose jobs because of expanded trade. But its core provi-sion gives the President fast-track negotiating authority for making trade agreements, which can then only be voted up or down by Congress. The fate of the bill is unclear because of a Senate amendment that allows any senator to reopen a treaty to remove any provision that changes U.S. trade remedy laws, such as antidumping measures or countervailing duties. The Bush Administration has threatened to veto any bill containing this provision, but House and Senate negotiators seem certain the measure will be dropped. As the largest U.S. exporting industry, the chemical industry has a big stake in expediting trade agreements. Removal of foreign tariffs on chemical products is important to the industry, and the lack of negotiating power has left the U.S. out of some recent international deals. "We are extremely pleased at the Senate approval of the bill," an American Chemistry Council spokesman tells C&EN. "We are calling for quick action by the conference committee to reconcile the two bills and recommend that the final report be sent to the President for signing by July 4." |
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