|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into force
on January 1, 1994. The agreement was signed by President George
H.W. Bush on December 17, 1992, and approved by Congress on
November 20, 1993. The NAFTA Implementation Act was signed into law
by President William J. Clinton on December 8, 1993 (P.L. 103-182).
The overall economic impact of NAFTA is difficult to measure since
trade and investment trends are influenced by numerous other
economic variables, such as economic growth, inflation, and
currency fluctuations. The agreement may have accelerated the trade
liberalization that was already taking place, but many of these
changes may have taken place with or without an agreement.
Nevertheless, NAFTA is significant because it was the most
comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) negotiated at the time and
contained several groundbreaking provisions. A legacy of the
agreement is that it has served as a template or model for the new
generation of FTAs that the United States later negotiated and it
also served as a template for certain provisions in multilateral
trade negotiations as part of the Uruguay Round. The 113th Congress
faces numerous issues related to international trade. Canada and
Mexico are the first and third largest U.S. trading partners,
respectively. With the two countries participating in the
negotiations to conclude a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free
trade agreement among the United States and 10 other countries,
policy issues related to NAFTA continue to be of interest for
Congress. If negotiations progress, a TPP agreement could affect
the rules and market access commitments governing North American
trade and investment since NAFTA entered into force. A related
trade policy issue in which the effects of NAFTA may be explored is
the possible renewal of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA; formerly
known as "fast-track authority") to provide expedited procedures
for the consideration of bills to implement trade agreements.
The U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, or U.S. Colombia Trade
Promotion Agreement, as it is officially called, is a comprehensive
free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Colombia,
which will eventually eliminate tariffs and other barriers in
bilateral trade in goods and services. The agreement will enter
into force on May 15, 2012. On October 3, 2011, President Barack
Obama submitted draft legislation (H.R. 3078/S. 1641) to both
houses of Congress to implement the FTA. On October 12, 2011, the
House passed H.R. 3078 (262-167) and sent it to the Senate. The
Senate passed the implementing legislation (66-33) on the same day.
The agreement was signed by both countries almost five years
earlier, on November 22, 2006. The Colombian Congress approved it
in June 2007 and again in October 2007, after it was modified to
include new provisions agreed to in the May 10, 2007 bipartisan
understanding between congressional leadership and President George
W. Bush. Upon entry into force, the agreement will immediately
eliminate duties on 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial
products to Colombia. Most remaining tariffs will be eliminated
within 10 years of implementation. The congressional debate
surrounding the CFTA mostly centered on violence, labor, and human
rights issues in Colombia. Numerous Members of Congress opposed
passage of the agreement because of concerns about alleged violence
against union members in Colombia, inadequate efforts to bring
perpetrators to justice, and weak protection of worker rights.
However, other Members of Congress supported the CFTA and took
issue with these charges, stating that Colombia had made great
progress over the last ten years to curb violence and enhance
security. They also argued that U.S. exporters were losing market
share of the Colombian market and that the agreement would open the
Colombian market for U.S. goods and services. For Colombia, an FTA
with the United States is part of its overall economic development
strategy. To address the concerns related to labor rights and
violence in Colombia, the United States and Colombia agreed upon an
"Action Plan Related to Labor Rights" that includes specific and
concrete steps, with specific timelines, most of which took place
in 2011. It contains numerous commitments by the Colombian
government to protect union members, end impunity, and improve
worker rights. The Colombian government submitted documents to the
United States in time to meet various target dates listed in the
Action Plan. The USTR reviewed the documents and determined that
Colombia had met its major commitments. The U.S. business community
generally supports the FTA with Colombia because it sees it as an
opportunity to increase U.S. exports to Colombia. U.S. exporters
urged U.S. policymakers to move forward with the agreement, arguing
that the United States was losing market share of the Colombian
market, especially in agriculture, as Colombia entered into FTAs
with other countries. Colombia's FTA with Canada, which was
implemented on August 15, 2011, was of particular concern for U.S.
agricultural producers. The United States is Colombia's leading
trade partner. Colombia accounts for a very small percentage of
U.S. trade (1.0% in 2011), ranking 22nd among U.S. export markets
and 23rd as a supplier of U.S. imports. Economic studies on the
impact of a U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA) have found
that, upon full implementation of an agreement, the impact on the
United States would be positive but very small due to the small
size of the Colombian economy when compared to that of the United
States (about 2.2%).
Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process
that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular,
supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget
reconciliation bills. The process begins with the President's
budget request and is bounded by the rules of the House and Senate,
the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as
amended), the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, and current program
authorisations. This book is a guide to the regular appropriations
bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to
supplement the information provided by the House Committee on
Appropriations and Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch of the
Senate Committee on Appropriations. It summarises the current
legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding
levels, and related legislative activity.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|