House of Representatives Approves Short-Term ATPA Extension
Provided by Jeff Levin - Saul Ewing LLP
On the heels of an agreement reached on Tuesday between Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, the House of Representatives late last night approved an eight-months extension of the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA) for all four beneficiary countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). The vote was surprisingly lopsided at 365 to 59 – substantially more than the two-thirds majority necessary to move the legislation under so-called “suspension rules.”
The Senate is slated to take up the ATPA extension bill before it leaves for the July 4th recess, and before the current version of the ATPA is scheduled to expire at midnight, June 30, 2007. The Senate will consider the bill under “unanimous consent” terms, which presents procedural dangers as it would permit a single Senator to block further movement. However, with the Senate’s principal opponent to an ATPA extension on-board with Tuesday’s agreement (Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Finance Committee), and the strong vote in favor of the extension recorded in the House, prospects for Senate approval are favorable.
As noted in yesterday’s ALERT, if all goes as planned, ATPA will be extended through February 29, 2008, without a lapse.
We will continue to keep Members closely advised.
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