WASHINGTON — Rushing to complete its work for the year, the Senate on Friday passed a broad $400 million tariff-dropping bill covering hundreds of products, including combed cashmere and camel hair yarns, certain filament yarns and power weaving and ink-jet printing textile machinery. The measure also extends normal trade status to Laos, which means the Southeast Asian country will see tariffs as high as 100 percent lowered to rates enjoyed by most U.S. trading partners.
The House earlier approved the bill, which the President is expected to soon sign. Another key element in the measure is the repeal of a little-used provision of the 1916 Antidumping Act, which allows U.S. manufacturers to sue foreign competitors for triple damages if imported goods are sold in the U.S. below the cost of production.
Before adjourning early Sunday the Lame Duck Congress failed to take action on a bill that would have dropped duties on apparel from Haiti, as a means to bolster the impoverished Caribbean country’s economy. The measure had earlier passed the Senate and was in line over the weekend for a House vote. The bill, favored by retailers and opposed by the domestic textile industry, might get another chance for action in December when lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene to work on the national intelligence reform bill.
— Joanna Ramey