Bill Proposes Withdrawal of NTR Treatment

On July 27, 2009, Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Chairman of the Republican House Policy Committee, introduced HR 3347. The bill would withdraw normal trade relations treatment (formerly MFN) from products of foreign countries that do not maintain acceptable standards of religious freedom and worker rights.

Cited as the Freedom Trade Act, McCotter said, “It will show all our potential partners throughout the world that the United States remains a beacon of freedom that will never forget Natan Sharansky’s warning that ‘How a government treats its own people cannot be separated from how that government could be expected to treat other countries.’”

The bill amends Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose Column 2 duty rates for products of foreign countries engaging in violations of religious freedom defined in 22 U.S. C. 6402 or restricting the freedom of workers to associate, organize and bargain collectively

Click HERE for additional detail on the proposed bill.