Congress aproves Peru trade agreement; cattlemen divided
By Associated Press and Ag Weekly
Thursday, November 8, 2007 6:11 PM CST
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved a free-trade agreement with Peru, the first under a Democratic majority in Congress that has declared that labor rights and the environment must be central parts of all such pacts.
The vote was 285-132, a comfortable margin of victory in the House. Trade deals have always been a hard sell among House members, mainly Democrats who have equated them with job losses and soaring trade deficits.
The country has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs since NAFTA, said Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine. “We have all seen the ugly face of trade agreements that don’t live up to the promises.”
“This is not remotely NAFTA,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said of the 1994 trade agreement with Mexico and Canada that has strong detractors. “We’ve all learned from that experience.”
The accord with Peru would eliminate duties immediately on some 80 percent of U.S. industrial exports and two-thirds of farm exports. It could increase American exports by $1 billion a year. A Senate vote, which could come in the next several weeks, would allow the accord to go into effect. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association welcomed the House action, saying it would boost export opportunities for American cattle.
“For U.S. cattlemen, the Peru Trade Promotion Agreement is one of the best-negotiated free trade agreements to date, providing for immediate duty-free access for U.S. prime and choice beef,” said Stacey Satterlee, director of legislative affairs for NCBA. “This gives U.S. producers the ability to compete aggressively against Argentinean and Brazilian beef in these markets.”
Another cattlemen’s group, R-CALF USA, however, decried the agreement’s passage saying it fails to ensure independent U.S. cattle producers can compete fairly and equitably in the global market and also fails to provide health and safety standards to protect the health and welfare of the U.S. livestock industry and consumers.
The White House has been a strong supporter of the agreement. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab welcomed the vote, saying “American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, service providers and their employees will have preferential access to this growing market.”
Peru already can export most of its products to the United States duty-free. The deal will more immediately affect U.S. sales, removing tariffs, opening opportunities for U.S. investors and service industries and protecting intellectual property rights.
In 2006, Peru sold $5.9 billion worth of goods to the United States, while buying $2.9 billion in U.S. exports.
The agreement, if approved by the Senate, would be the first to clear Congress since a bilateral deal with Oman was accepted in September 2006.
Congressional action is pending on deals with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, but votes are unlikely to occur this year.
The bill is H.R. 3688
On the Net:
Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/
U.S. Trade Representative: http://www.ustr.gov/
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