Lawmakers Denounce Preferential Trade With Ecuador
As Ecuador surfaced as a possible asylum destination for NSA leaker Edward Snowden, two U.S. Senators challenged the country’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility, in statements released June 27. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) (here) and U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) (here) accused Ecuador of violating preferential status terms. The press releases followed an Ecuadorian government call to sever the preferential trade relationship, manifested through the Andean Trade Preference Act .
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“For many reasons I have grave misgivings about renewing the Andean Trade Preference Act for Ecuador,” said Hatch in the release. “I would encourage the Administration to act swiftly and accept the Ecuadorian government’s request to be removed from the ATPA and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programs.”
Since the Snowden incident, other lawmakers, including Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.), have called (see 13062727) for withdrawal of Ecuadorian GSP status. A June 20 USTR report, while acknowledging sound labor and U.S. market access practice in Ecuador, questioned the country’s commitment to free market principles. .