US House of Rpresentatives Ways & Means Chairman Phil Archer and US Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott are optimistic that they will come up with a final unified draft of the bill that would grant parity (eliminating duties and quotas on footwear and apparel) to Caribbean imports as early as next week, according to news reports. The legislators would like the compromised bill to be drafted prior to the congressional decision of whether the US should stay in the World Trade Organization and a vote on China permanent normal trade relations comes on the agenda. The main difference revolves around whether to grant Caribbean apparel makers a duty break only if they sew with US materials. Furthermore, US retailors want the legislation to contain a broad regional fabric origin rule. According to news reports, retailers in general would prefer to make goods in the Caribbean because of its proximity and ability to better serve the U.S. market. After a deal is struck, the package must be voted on by the House and Senate. The Trade and Development Act of 1999 passed by the Senate and the African Growth and Opportunity Act passed by the House seek to lower trade and investment barriers to countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Senate version would extend these policies to the Caribbean Basin. If passed by the US Congress, it would be the first single trade agreement of significance approved by the US since the completion in 1994 of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Today, Caribbean nations, the Dominican Republic included, that had benefited from the CBI trade initiative, have to compete at a disadvantage with Mexico, which as a North American Free Trade signatory has preferential access to US markets. The Dominican Republic has made a case that there is a direct relation between its prosperity and the amount it imports from the US. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R-Texas) recently took over from Senator Crane, on medical leave, as the leading champion of the House version of CBI Enhancement, which makes greater allowances for the use of fabric produced in the CBI countries in apparel exports to the United States than does the Senate version. On the positive side, Chairman Archer is committed to the passage of CBI Enhancement. Since he is not running for re-election this year, the fact that he is serving his final term in the House of Representatives appears to have strengthened his determination to leave a strong legacy. He is one of Congress’s leading proponents of free trade.
