Senators Push Bill to Boost US Aid for WTO Facilitation Pact
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking member Ben Cardin, D-Md., introduced legislation, S-2201 (here), in recent days to boost U.S. assistance for trade relations with developing countries. The bill, dubbed The Global Gateways Trade Capacity Act, creates a five-year pilot program to help those countries implement the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement.
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The legislation, which surfaced on Oct. 23, directs the State Department, in consultation with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, to coordinate an interagency team to assist TFA implementation. U.S. embassies in pilot countries would be required to submit biennial reports outlining mission plans for the assistance, including projections on the expected benefits of assistance. The bill allocates $50 million for each year of the pilot.
No fewer than five developing countries would be required as part of the pilot at the outset, and no fewer than 15 countries would have to take part over the course of the five-year period, the legislation says. The bill directs the funds to be used for “import, export, or transit formalities and procedures, including increasing the throughput rate of imports and exports and reforming and modernizing customs operations and procedures.”