House Pulls ATPDEA Extension Bill from Schedule Due to Objections
Although the House was scheduled to vote on legislation to extend the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA)/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) for Colombia and Ecuador and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) on February 8, 20111, the bill was pulled from the House schedule. According to one Congressional source, the House has not yet rescheduled a vote on an ATPDEA extension.
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Objections to Bill May Include TAA, FTA, and Other Issues
On February 8, 2011, the Club for Growth issued an alert urging House members to reject the ATPDEA/TAA bill. Although the Club for Growth indicates that it supports ATPDEA, it objects to extending TAA.
However, passing an ATPDEA extension bill alone may present a problem for House Democrats, who have previously objected to extending ATPDEA without also extending TAA.
Other objections that have been raised regarding the ATPDEA/TAA bill are the lack of a timetable from the Administration for completing the pending free trade agreements (Colombia, Panama, and Korea). Concern in the Senate about moving TAA without moving the U.S.-Colombia FTA was also an issue when ATPDEA and TAA were most recently extended through February 12, 2011. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/23/10 news, 10122338, for BP summary.)
ATPDEA will expire on February 12, 2011 for Colombia and Ecuador, unless an extension is enacted.
1In addition, the ATPDEA/TAA extension bill was expected to be introduced on February 8, 2011, but was not.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 02/08/11 news, 11020826, for BP summary on House plans to consider ATPDEA/TAA extension bill on February 8, 2011.)