Congress, Santa Claus and Scrooge

Tis the season for children of all ages to make their wish list for Santa. On the top of some lists is the passage of the Omnibus Trade Act of 2010.

The Omnibus Trade Act of 2010 (H.R. 6517) was passed by the House on Wednesday. The bill extends several trade preferences programs and temporarily modifies duty rates on specific articles. If passed, the Omnibus Trade Act of 2010 contains several important trade provisions that include:

• extension of the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA) and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) until June 30, 2012.

• extension of the key Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) provisions until June 30, 2012

• various miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) provisions.

The TAA, GSP and ATPA are scheduled to expire on December 31, 2010 unless they are extended. The bill must be passed by the Senate before it can be signed into law; however, there is some speculation that the Senate might not pass the legislation. With Congress ready to end the session for the holidays, some members aka Scrooges vow to keep it going through the weekend. Will Santa deliver the passage of H.R. 6517 or will it be left on the wish list for next year along with the Korea, Panama and Columbia Free Trade Agreements?


Note from the Wizard:
The Wizard is taking a leave from Oz to follow the yellow brick road, so this will be the Wizard’s last posting on Boskage Trade News blog. It’s been a pleasure to write this blog and interact with the readers for the last two years.