The US Senate Finance Committee, over the objections of several Republicans, approved Thursday a free-trade pact with Jordan that Democrats have hailed as a model for future agreements because of its labor and environmental provisions.
The panel approved the agreement negotiated last year by the Clinton administration on a voice vote, said Reuters. The Ways and Means Committee in the US House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on the agreement later Thursday, said the Jordan Times newspaper.
“We are very optimistic to get the final approval of relevant committees in the House and Senate on the FTA,” a Jordanian official, who asked not to be named, said.
“If they do,” the source added, “then we expect the bill to be acted on by the full House and Senate next week, then it will become a law.”
The House supported continued US commercial relations with Vietnam in a vote that coincided with a decision to normalize trade with Vietnam and complete the trade agreement with Jordan.
Action in the Ways and Means Committee on the two pacts has been delayed this year by a larger debate over whether to give President George W. Bush the authority to negotiate broad new trade agreements.
“The US-Jordan FTA pact contains labor and environmental provisions that have caused concerns for many Republicans,” said another source.
“The FTA pact reached with Jordan last October has attracted attention because for the first time such an agreement includes provisions on protecting labor and environmental standards,” he added.
According to some congressional aides, in order to address the concerns raised during the debate, Jordan and the US have exchanged letters pledging not to use sanctions to enforce the labor and environmental provisions, the paper said.
House Minority Whip David Bonior, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters he expected both the Vietnam and Jordan agreements to win House approval.
But Bonior said he disliked the idea of a side letter to the Jordan agreement.
Democrats have hailed the labor and environmental provisions in the agreement as a model for future pacts.
The agreement Jordan reached with the Clinton administration last October would phase out all tariff barriers over a 10-year period.
If approved by the Congress, Jordan would become only the fourth country, after Canada, Mexico and Israel, with which the United States has a free trade arrangement.
Beyond being a strong trade agreement, said committee chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, “it's a strong signal of support for a valued ally in the Middle East.”
Two-way trade with Jordan generated just $300 million in 1999. The agreement has focused on the provisions under which both countries agreed to enforce existing laws concerning worker rights and environmental protections.
Either country can appeal to a dispute resolution panel if it feels that pledge is not being upheld.
Democrats are trying to incorporate similar language in more far-reaching legislation giving the president “fast track” authority, or expanded rights to negotiate new international trade agreements. Republicans object, saying labor and environmental issues are better dealt with outside of trade pacts.
Republicans on the panel warned that the Jordan pact would be used as a precedent to include similar language in other trade accords – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
