California Congressman Wants to End Vietnam NTR
Measure aims to deny renewal of conditional Normal Trade Status? for the Southeast Asian country.
WASHINGTON, DC - The measure - House Joint Resolution 64 - was sent to House Ways and Means Committee for action on July 9 and calls for the denial of renewed conditional normal trade relations (NTR) status for Vietnam.
Drafted by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), the measure would deny President Bush the authority to extend the current waiver of the Jackson-Vanik provisions of the Trade Act of 1974.
Under those provisions, a bilateral trade agreement and certification of freedom of emigration are necessary for the US to establish conditional NTR, formerly known as most-favored-nation (MFN) status, with non-market economies such as Vietnam. President Bush recommended a waiver extension for Vietnam in May.
The proposed resolution had no co-sponsors and was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee for action. A majority of the committee strongly favors trade with Vietnam, and that committee has negatively reported such resolutions to the full House in the past.
Rohrabacher is a member of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, as well as that committee's newly-created Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights.
He is a staunch, long-time opponent of Vietnam's Communist government, and has submitted similar resolutions in the past on trade with the Hanoi regime that have all gone down to defeat.
The eight-term lawmaker is also the chairman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the House Science Committee.
Go
back, or read the latest Front Page stories:
US Seeks Stronger Ties With Brazil
WASHINGTON, DC – 06/13/06 – Rebounding from the failure to craft a Free Trade Area of the Americas pact, the Bush Administration is aiming at strengthening trade ties with Brazil in an effort to counter China’s fast-growing economic influence in Latin America; China should not only be seen as an export market with 1.3 billion consumers, but also as a nation of 1.3 billion ''new competitors,'' says US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Guittierez.
US Threatens WTO Action Against China
WASHINGTON, DC – 06/10/06 – The White House is threatening to slap China with a World Trade Organization case unless Beijing responds quickly to US concerns over its lack of action on securing intellectual property rights for US products; talks on bringing the WTO case are at a ''very advanced stage,'' according to a high level official in the Office of the US trade Representative.
High Hopes for Central American Trade Pact
WASHINGTON, DC – 06/08/06 – The US -Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) still faces some hurdles, but could become a reality ''very soon,'' according to Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick; the issues relating to government procurement, intellectual property rights and agriculture still need to be worked through, says the former US Trade Representative following a session of the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
|
