House passes trade bill for Vietnam, Haiti

Washington, Dec 9: Lawmakers narrowly approved a raft of trade legislation to normalize trade ties with former enemy Vietnam, expand trade preferences for dirt-poor Haiti, and renew duty reductions for the Andean region and over 100 developing nations.

The House of Representatives voted 212 to 184 for the trade package, which is expected to go to the Senate this weekend as part of a larger tax and energy package in an 11th-hour push to close the current Republican-led Congress.

''This legislation will help to create stronger trading partners for the future, while also recognizing our responsibility ... to help developing countries grow,'' Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, outgoing chairman of the influential Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement yesterday.

The measure grants Permanent Normal Trade Relations to fast-growing Vietnam, 30 years after its war with the United States, but it comes late for President George W Bush, who arrived mpty-handed at a Hanoi summit last month after an initial PNTR vote failed.

The legislation also broadens textile preferences for Haiti, allowing it to increase duty-free exports to the United States of clothes that aren't made with US yarn and fabric.

''We hope that ... we can send a signal to other countries to come to the aid of this poor nation,'' said New York's Charles Rangel, a Democrat who will head the Ways and Means Committee when Democrats take control of Congress next year.

But sharp opposition from southern-state Senators, like Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, to the proposed changes to Haiti trade threaten to slow down the vote in the Senate.

''It's a job-destroying bill,'' said Cass Johnson, president of the National Council of Textile Organizations. The textile industry fears the rules will squeeze out US producers of yarn and fabric who supply Haiti's apparel industry.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab hailed Friday's vote, saying increased trade had not only helped workers in poor countries but lowered priced for US consumers.

Reuters