*EPF204 12/07/2004
Bush Signs Law on Miscellaneous Tariffs, Laos Trade Relations
(Measure repeals 1916 U.S. dumping law rejected by WTO) (380)

Washington -- President Bush has signed into law a broad trade package that suspends tariffs on hundreds of products not produced domestically, extends normal trade relations to Laos, and repeals a 1916 dumping law ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Although largely uncontroversial, the trade package stalled repeatedly in Congress over three years due to a series of disagreements. The measure was approved by the House of Representatives on October 8, by the Senate November 19, and signed into law by the president December 3.

The package aims to resolve a U.S. dispute with its trading partners by repealing the 1916 Anti-Dumping Act, under which U.S. companies could retaliate in court against importers of goods dumped on the U.S. market. The policy has been ruled illegal by the WTO. The provision in the bill does not overturn any cases already decided or pending under the law.

Another section of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 allows the president to waive import duties on hand-knotted and hand-woven carpet. The provision is primarily aimed at helping Pakistan and Afghanistan, two countries that have joined the United States "in the fight against global terrorism," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said in a floor statement before the Senate vote.

The measure also strengthens the president's authority to bar imports of looted Iraqi antiquities.

One of the controversies that stalled the bill was the extension of normal trade relations to Laos, which will dramatically reduce the average U.S. tariff on Laotian products.

Russ Feingold and Herbert Kohl, Democratic senators from Wisconsin, objected to the provision on the basis of human rights violations against the Hmong population in Laos. Wisconsin is home to a large number of Hmong refugees.

The two senators agreed to drop their opposition to the bill after persuading their colleagues to adopt a resolution calling on Laos to improve its human rights record.

The bill also extends permanent normal trade relations to Armenia. Armenia has had normal trade relations with the United States on an annual renewable basis. Armenia's recent entry into the WTO required Washington to make the status permanent.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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