Emergency Committee For American Trade - Publications

Summary of ECAT Positions on Issues

The following paragraphs provide a summary of the suggested ECAT position on major trade, investment, and tax issues likely to be of greatest concern to ECAT member companies.

Section 2: Major Trade Policy Issues

ECAT POSITION: Trade liberalization negotiated under the WTO remains a powerful engine of global economic growth, and it is vitally important that U. S. participation in the WTO be maintained. ECAT urges members to reject any legislation withdrawing U.S. participation in the WTO.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT urges the House and Senate to make every effort to reach a conference agreement on H.R. 434 early this year that includes the Africa and CBI trade bills, as well as the extension of the GSP and TAA programs. ECAT supports the African Growth and Opportunity Act as passed by the House, as an effective platform for expanding commercial ties with sub-Saharan African nations. ECAT supports the proposed compromise to broaden the Senate version of the CBI bill to include preferential treatment of regional fabric made from U.S. yarn. ECAT also believes that providing trade benefits to Caribbean nations equivalent to those provided under NAFTA is critical to help CBI countries rebuild their economies and strengthen hemispheric ties. ECAT encourages House and Senate conferees to eliminate the carousel retaliation provision requiring the United States Trade Representative to modify periodically the retaliation targets imposed in a WTO dispute settlement case. ECAT also encourages conferees to eliminate the restrictions on the use of U.S. funds to seek elimination of compulsory licensing of HIV/AIDs drugs in sub-Saharan nations.

ECAT POSITION: Continued global trade expansion is the bedrock of progress in achieving greater international observance of high labor and environmental standards. Progress on the human side of trade requires that the United States continue its leadership in the multilateral trading system promoting a strong set of WTO rules based on the right of member countries to set and enforce high environmental, labor, or other domestic standards. For the United States to continue to enjoy the full benefits of global trade expansion that encompasses China, we must extend PNTR treatment to China and support its WTO membership. Making China a full participant in the global trading system will also raise Chinese living standards, expand individual freedom in China, and strengthen the platform for improved environmental, labor, and human rights standards in China.

ECAT also believes that while expanding U.S. international trade and investment raises U.S. living standards overall, dislocations occur and must be addressed through adequate working retraining and assistance programs. ECAT supports efforts to reform existing TAA programs to ensure that they provide improve retraining and reemployment assistance to dislocated workers.

ECAT POSITION: It is vitally important that both U.S. unfair trade laws and Section 201 maintain a careful balance between the interests of the petitioning industry and the interests of other U.S. industries and consumers. It is also critical that these laws conform to U.S. international obligations and that the Congress and Administration oppose any efforts to amend U.S. antidumping, countervailing duty, or safeguards laws in ways which would invite foreign retaliation and encourage restrictive foreign mirror legislation.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports extension of the "green light" subsidy provisions and urges the Congress to enact necessary implementing legislation.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT believes that while trade-negotiating authority may not be renewed this year, broad, multi-year trade-negotiating authority remains essential to create the necessary infrastructure to achieve further liberalization of international trade and investment. If we are to achieve future economic growth and higher standards of living through expanding trade and investment, bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade agreements must remain focused on the liberalization of trade and investment. They should not be encumbered by non-trade related labor and environment issues on which there is no domestic or international consensus. U.S. business, the Administration, and the Congress should work together to identify those labor and environment issues on which consensus and cooperation can be achieved in order to promote genuine progress in these areas through appropriate fora.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports full funding of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) from general revenues and opposes the imposition of new user fees to fund the program.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the renewal of Vietnam's Jackson-Vanik waiver allowing its continued eligibility for Overseas Private Investment (OPIC) and Export-Import Bank programs.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports Administration efforts to convince OECD member countries to ratify the OECD Antibribery Convention, pass effective implementing legislation, and ensure effective enforcement of the agreement once it is ratified. Foreign corruption remains a major barrier to U.S. trade and investment, and ECAT supports Administration efforts to combat the problem through international agreements.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports passage of a miscellaneous tariff bill early this year.

Section 3: China

ECAT POSITION: ECAT member companies support China's WTO accession and urge the Congress early this year to enact legislation granting PNTR treatment to China without conditions. The legislation should not be tied to any annual review or approval process or conditioned in any way.

Section 4: World Trade Organization

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the launch of comprehensive negotiations on agriculture that seek to secure the elimination of export subsidies, across-the-board tariff reductions, expanded market-access opportunities for products subject to tariff-rate quotas, reductions of trade-distorting domestic support levels, and the adoption of a market-oriented approach by agricultural state-trading entities. It is also important that the negotiations ensure that the world's agricultural producers can use safe, scientifically-proven biotechnology, without fear of trade discrimination

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the launch of comprehensive services negotiations that seek to remove restrictions on services trade, ensure non-discriminatory treatment, and promote the establishment of pro-competitive domestic regulatory regimes. The establishment of transparent, impartial regulatory regimes in local markets is essential to make the existing GATS national treatment provisions and market-access commitments meaningful and to promote the international competitiveness of service providers.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports efforts to reach a final agreement in the ATL negotiations on toys, chemicals, forestry products, fish, energy, environmental goods and services, telecommunications products, medical equipment and scientific instruments, and jewelry.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the accelerated negotiation of ITA II and the enactment of necessary implementing legislation

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the extension of the moratorium on duties on e-commerce until the next WTO ministerial and the extension of the WTO Working Party on E-commerce. It is important that there is no premature classification of e-commerce as either a good or service by the working party. ECAT encourages WTO members to consider innovative new ways to eliminate barriers at all levels of the e-commerce value chain in the interest of promoting e-commerce growth and broad cross-sectoral liberalization.

ECAT POSITION: Full implementation of WTO agreements is the cornerstone of the multilateral trading system and must remain a top priority on the WTO agenda. Developing country concerns regarding implementation should be addressed through increased technical assistance and should not become the pretext for renegotiating existing WTO agreements. ECAT urges the Administration to maintain its opposition to a reopening of the TRIPs Agreement or any delays in the full implementation of the agreement

Section 5: Investment

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports a continuing effort to build a consensus for an international agreement on investment that will provide a high standard of protection for investors which meets or exceeds protections currently provided under U.S. bilateral investment treaties. ECAT believes that U.S. trade and international tax policies should recognize the vital importance of U.S. foreign direct investment to U.S. economic growth and should promote the expansion of U.S. trade and investment.

Section 6: Sanctions Reform

ECAT POSITION: ECAT believes that almost all unilateral sanctions that do not have multilateral support are ineffective and counterproductive. ECAT supports the deliberative and disciplined framework for consideration of sanctions set out in the sanctions process reform legislation sponsored by Senator Lugar and Congressman Crane and urges the Congress to take action early this year to enact the legislation.

Section 7: Export Promotion and Financing

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports full funding of the Administration's requests for FY 2001 for Ex-Im Bank, OPIC, TDA, and the multilateral development banks and development funds

Section 8: Export Controls

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports efforts to liberalize controls on encryption products and to build a strong bipartisan consensus for meaningful export control reform. ECAT believes that upward adjustments in the control threshold for high performance computers should be expedited and urges the Congress to reduce the congressional notification period under the National Defense Authorization Act of 1998 to 30 days. Similarly, the Administration should establish an expedited, predictable process for raising the control threshold for microprocessors.

Any legislation re-authorizing the EAA needs to be bipartisan and reflect a consensus among the Congress, the Administration and the business community. A new EAA bill should provide an export control system that promotes U.S. national security and maintains U.S. technological leadership. An EAA bill should codify recent export control liberalization, provide for a higher threshold for the imposition of foreign policy controls, ease the ability to obtain foreign availability determinations, and reduce export-licensing processing time. Such legislation must not become the vehicle for further unilateral restrictions on U.S. exports that lack the support of our trading partners, are out of step with technological advances, and undermine the development of new technology that is critical to advancing U.S. national security interests.

Section 9: Regional Trade Arrangements

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the FTAA negotiations and efforts to prepare a draft text of an agreement by April 2001. ECAT also believes that FTAA negotiators should seek to reach early agreement on elimination of tariffs on a sectoral basis, with a reduction of tariff peaks; reduction of barriers to trade in services, including agreement on harmonization and mutual recognition of professional standards; adherence to WTO agreements on telecommunications, financial services, and the ITA; improved protection of intellectual property rights; and adherence to the OAS and OECD antibribery conventions. ECAT reiterates its support for the enactment of broad, multi-year trade-negotiating authority that will enable the United States to pursue liberalization under a FTAA providing meaningful market access to U.S. manufacturers, farmers, and service providers.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the APEC process as a vital part of expanding trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. ECAT supports ongoing efforts to achieve a final agreement before the end of this year on the eight sectors targeted under the Accelerated Tariff Liberalization (ATL) initiative and to extend the agreement to all WTO member countries. ECAT also endorses the U.S. effort to reach an agreement to move forward with liberalization in other sectors, including food and automotive products.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT endorses the highly productive efforts of the TABD and the TABD recommendations that have helped to lay the foundation for greater regulatory cooperation and harmonization under the TransAtlantic Economic Partnership (TEP). ECAT also supports the continuing efforts of the United States and the EU to reach additional Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) in the goods and services sectors and to place greater reliance on the early warning system to identify and resolve potential areas of dispute.

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports Administration and private sector efforts to promote greater economic reform and growth in the sub-Saharan nations of African. ECAT supports passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and believes it would provide an effective platform for expanding U.S. trade with sub-Saharan African nations.

Section 11: Intellectual Property

ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the efforts of the Administration to secure full implementation of the TRIPs Agreement by insisting on adherence to existing transition deadlines, opposing any moratorium on dispute settlement cases, and making aggressive use of WTO dispute settlement procedures to enforce the agreement. ECAT urges the Administration to make every effort to encourage countries to ratify the WIPO copyright treaties, so that they may enter into force by the end of this year. ECAT supports the Administration's initiative to combat piracy of optical-media products through effective enforcement and regulation, and end user software piracy, particularly by foreign governments.

Section 12: Taxation of Foreign Source Income

ECAT POSITION: ECAT opposes any modification to the rules governing the taxation of foreign source income that would undermine the competitiveness of U.S. companies. Specifically, we oppose the proposals in the Administration's fiscal year 2001 budget to replace the export source rule with an activities-based rule, to impose complex new rules regarding nominal tax countries, and to limit the use of the foreign tax credit for oil and gas income. ECAT supports legislation to make the exemption for active financial services income under Subpart F and the research and development tax credit permanent, and to provide relief from the interest allocation rules. ECAT opposes changes in the deferral of taxation of foreign source income.

ECAT supports the U.S. effort to work with the EU to resolve the WTO dispute over the U.S. Foreign Sales Corporation provisions. The dispute must be resolved in a manner that ensures that U.S. firms and workers are not at a competitive disadvantage with their European counterparts and guarantees a level playing field for American companies with international operations.


	Summary of ECAT Positions on Issues The following paragraphs provide a summary of the suggested ECAT position on major trade, investment, and tax issues likely to be of greatest concern to ECAT member companies. Section 2: Major Trade Policy Issues ECAT POSITION: Trade liberalization negotiated under the WTO remains a powerful engine of global economic growth, and it is vitally important that U. S. participation in the WTO be maintained. ECAT urges members to reject any legislation withdrawing U.S. participation in the WTO. ECAT POSITION: ECAT urges the House and Senate to make every effort to reach a conference agreement on H.R. 434 early this year that includes the Africa and CBI trade bills, as well as the extension of the GSP and TAA programs. ECAT supports the African Growth and Opportunity Act as passed by the House, as an effective platform for expanding commercial ties with sub-Saharan African nations. ECAT supports the proposed compromise to broaden the Senate version of the CBI bill to include preferential treatment of regional fabric made from U.S. yarn. ECAT also believes that providing trade benefits to Caribbean nations equivalent to those provided under NAFTA is critical to help CBI countries rebuild their economies and strengthen hemispheric ties. ECAT encourages House and Senate conferees to eliminate the carousel retaliation provision requiring the United States Trade Representative to modify periodically the retaliation targets imposed in a WTO dispute settlement case. ECAT also encourages conferees to eliminate the restrictions on the use of U.S. funds to seek elimination of compulsory licensing of HIV/AIDs drugs in sub-Saharan nations. ECAT POSITION: Continued global trade expansion is the bedrock of progress in achieving greater international observance of high labor and environmental standards. Progress on the human side of trade requires that the United States continue its leadership in the multilateral trading system promoting a strong set of WTO rules based on the right of member countries to set and enforce high environmental, labor, or other domestic standards. For the United States to continue to enjoy the full benefits of global trade expansion that encompasses China, we must extend PNTR treatment to China and support its WTO membership. Making China a full participant in the global trading system will also raise Chinese living standards, expand individual freedom in China, and strengthen the platform for improved environmental, labor, and human rights standards in China. ECAT also believes that while expanding U.S. international trade and investment raises U.S. living standards overall, dislocations occur and must be addressed through adequate working retraining and assistance programs. ECAT supports efforts to reform existing TAA programs to ensure that they provide improve retraining and reemployment assistance to dislocated workers. ECAT POSITION: It is vitally important that both U.S. unfair trade laws and Section 201 maintain a careful balance between the interests of the petitioning industry and the interests of other U.S. industries and consumers. It is also critical that these laws conform to U.S. international obligations and that the Congress and Administration oppose any efforts to amend U.S. antidumping, countervailing duty, or safeguards laws in ways which would invite foreign retaliation and encourage restrictive foreign mirror legislation. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports extension of the "green light" subsidy provisions and urges the Congress to enact necessary implementing legislation. ECAT POSITION: ECAT believes that while trade-negotiating authority may not be renewed this year, broad, multi-year trade-negotiating authority remains essential to create the necessary infrastructure to achieve further liberalization of international trade and investment. If we are to achieve future economic growth and higher standards of living through expanding trade and investment, bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade agreements must remain focused on the liberalization of trade and investment. They should not be encumbered by non-trade related labor and environment issues on which there is no domestic or international consensus. U.S. business, the Administration, and the Congress should work together to identify those labor and environment issues on which consensus and cooperation can be achieved in order to promote genuine progress in these areas through appropriate fora. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports full funding of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) from general revenues and opposes the imposition of new user fees to fund the program. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the renewal of Vietnam's Jackson-Vanik waiver allowing its continued eligibility for Overseas Private Investment (OPIC) and Export-Import Bank programs. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports Administration efforts to convince OECD member countries to ratify the OECD Antibribery Convention, pass effective implementing legislation, and ensure effective enforcement of the agreement once it is ratified. Foreign corruption remains a major barrier to U.S. trade and investment, and ECAT supports Administration efforts to combat the problem through international agreements. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports passage of a miscellaneous tariff bill early this year. Section 3: China ECAT POSITION: ECAT member companies support China's WTO accession and urge the Congress early this year to enact legislation granting PNTR treatment to China without conditions. The legislation should not be tied to any annual review or approval process or conditioned in any way. Section 4: World Trade Organization ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the launch of comprehensive negotiations on agriculture that seek to secure the elimination of export subsidies, across-the-board tariff reductions, expanded market-access opportunities for products subject to tariff-rate quotas, reductions of trade-distorting domestic support levels, and the adoption of a market-oriented approach by agricultural state-trading entities. It is also important that the negotiations ensure that the world's agricultural producers can use safe, scientifically-proven biotechnology, without fear of trade discrimination ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the launch of comprehensive services negotiations that seek to remove restrictions on services trade, ensure non-discriminatory treatment, and promote the establishment of pro-competitive domestic regulatory regimes. The establishment of transparent, impartial regulatory regimes in local markets is essential to make the existing GATS national treatment provisions and market-access commitments meaningful and to promote the international competitiveness of service providers. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports efforts to reach a final agreement in the ATL negotiations on toys, chemicals, forestry products, fish, energy, environmental goods and services, telecommunications products, medical equipment and scientific instruments, and jewelry. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the accelerated negotiation of ITA II and the enactment of necessary implementing legislation ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the extension of the moratorium on duties on e-commerce until the next WTO ministerial and the extension of the WTO Working Party on E-commerce. It is important that there is no premature classification of e-commerce as either a good or service by the working party. ECAT encourages WTO members to consider innovative new ways to eliminate barriers at all levels of the e-commerce value chain in the interest of promoting e-commerce growth and broad cross-sectoral liberalization. ECAT POSITION: Full implementation of WTO agreements is the cornerstone of the multilateral trading system and must remain a top priority on the WTO agenda. Developing country concerns regarding implementation should be addressed through increased technical assistance and should not become the pretext for renegotiating existing WTO agreements. ECAT urges the Administration to maintain its opposition to a reopening of the TRIPs Agreement or any delays in the full implementation of the agreement Section 5: Investment ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports a continuing effort to build a consensus for an international agreement on investment that will provide a high standard of protection for investors which meets or exceeds protections currently provided under U.S. bilateral investment treaties. ECAT believes that U.S. trade and international tax policies should recognize the vital importance of U.S. foreign direct investment to U.S. economic growth and should promote the expansion of U.S. trade and investment. Section 6: Sanctions Reform ECAT POSITION: ECAT believes that almost all unilateral sanctions that do not have multilateral support are ineffective and counterproductive. ECAT supports the deliberative and disciplined framework for consideration of sanctions set out in the sanctions process reform legislation sponsored by Senator Lugar and Congressman Crane and urges the Congress to take action early this year to enact the legislation. Section 7: Export Promotion and Financing ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports full funding of the Administration's requests for FY 2001 for Ex-Im Bank, OPIC, TDA, and the multilateral development banks and development funds Section 8: Export Controls ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports efforts to liberalize controls on encryption products and to build a strong bipartisan consensus for meaningful export control reform. ECAT believes that upward adjustments in the control threshold for high performance computers should be expedited and urges the Congress to reduce the congressional notification period under the National Defense Authorization Act of 1998 to 30 days. Similarly, the Administration should establish an expedited, predictable process for raising the control threshold for microprocessors. Any legislation re-authorizing the EAA needs to be bipartisan and reflect a consensus among the Congress, the Administration and the business community. A new EAA bill should provide an export control system that promotes U.S. national security and maintains U.S. technological leadership. An EAA bill should codify recent export control liberalization, provide for a higher threshold for the imposition of foreign policy controls, ease the ability to obtain foreign availability determinations, and reduce export-licensing processing time. Such legislation must not become the vehicle for further unilateral restrictions on U.S. exports that lack the support of our trading partners, are out of step with technological advances, and undermine the development of new technology that is critical to advancing U.S. national security interests. Section 9: Regional Trade Arrangements ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the FTAA negotiations and efforts to prepare a draft text of an agreement by April 2001. ECAT also believes that FTAA negotiators should seek to reach early agreement on elimination of tariffs on a sectoral basis, with a reduction of tariff peaks; reduction of barriers to trade in services, including agreement on harmonization and mutual recognition of professional standards; adherence to WTO agreements on telecommunications, financial services, and the ITA; improved protection of intellectual property rights; and adherence to the OAS and OECD antibribery conventions. ECAT reiterates its support for the enactment of broad, multi-year trade-negotiating authority that will enable the United States to pursue liberalization under a FTAA providing meaningful market access to U.S. manufacturers, farmers, and service providers. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the APEC process as a vital part of expanding trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. ECAT supports ongoing efforts to achieve a final agreement before the end of this year on the eight sectors targeted under the Accelerated Tariff Liberalization (ATL) initiative and to extend the agreement to all WTO member countries. ECAT also endorses the U.S. effort to reach an agreement to move forward with liberalization in other sectors, including food and automotive products. ECAT POSITION: ECAT endorses the highly productive efforts of the TABD and the TABD recommendations that have helped to lay the foundation for greater regulatory cooperation and harmonization under the TransAtlantic Economic Partnership (TEP). ECAT also supports the continuing efforts of the United States and the EU to reach additional Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) in the goods and services sectors and to place greater reliance on the early warning system to identify and resolve potential areas of dispute. ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports Administration and private sector efforts to promote greater economic reform and growth in the sub-Saharan nations of African. ECAT supports passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and believes it would provide an effective platform for expanding U.S. trade with sub-Saharan African nations. Section 11: Intellectual Property ECAT POSITION: ECAT supports the efforts of the Administration to secure full implementation of the TRIPs Agreement by insisting on adherence to existing transition deadlines, opposing any moratorium on dispute settlement cases, and making aggressive use of WTO dispute settlement procedures to enforce the agreement. ECAT urges the Administration to make every effort to encourage countries to ratify the WIPO copyright treaties, so that they may enter into force by the end of this year. ECAT supports the Administration's initiative to combat piracy of optical-media products through effective enforcement and regulation, and end user software piracy, particularly by foreign governments. Section 12: Taxation of Foreign Source Income ECAT POSITION: ECAT opposes any modification to the rules governing the taxation of foreign source income that would undermine the competitiveness of U.S. companies. Specifically, we oppose the proposals in the Administration's fiscal year 2001 budget to replace the export source rule with an activities-based rule, to impose complex new rules regarding nominal tax countries, and to limit the use of the foreign tax credit for oil and gas income. ECAT supports legislation to make the exemption for active financial services income under Subpart F and the research and development tax credit permanent, and to provide relief from the interest allocation rules. ECAT opposes changes in the deferral of taxation of foreign source income. ECAT supports the U.S. effort to work with the EU to resolve the WTO dispute over the U.S. Foreign Sales Corporation provisions. The dispute must be resolved in a manner that ensures that U.S. firms and workers are not at a competitive disadvantage with their European counterparts and guarantees a level playing field for American companies with international operations. ECAT - Homepage About ECAT \| Hot Issues \| ECAT Positions Press Releases \| Trade Resources \| Key Trade Votes \| Publications Steel \| CAFTA \| Search \| Members Only Copyright 1999-2002, the Emergency Committee for American Trade