Society of American Florists reports Congress has failed to extend the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) upon its expiration on Feb. 12. Prior to expiration of ATPDEA, flowers from Colombia and Ecuador entered the U.S. duty-free. Importers are now paying duties of 3.2%-6.8% on flowers coming from these two countries.
SAF said that traditionally extension of the duty-free provisions of the ATPDEA has received bipartisan support, but the 112th Congress has so far taken a more conservative track due in part to the gains made by Republicans.
SAF said one contentious issue involves the funding of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program that had been part of the ATPDEA extension legislation. TAA is a longstanding program designed to provide aid and training to workers who have lost their jobs as a result of imports.
“Democrats fully support funding TAA,” said SAF COO Drew Gruenburg. “Some Republicans, however, view TAA as another government program that is wasteful, inefficient and too costly.”
SAF said some legislators are reluctant to support TAA (and thus ATPDEA) without a commitment from the Obama administration to send the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama to Congress.
Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) was first enacted in 1991 and amended in 2002 as ATPDEA. The trade policy was created to reduce illegal crop production in the Andean region by removing the import tax on most products from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. Congress must periodically renew the act to ensure these countries still meet eligibility requirements for exporting duty-free. The status of Bolivia and Peru has changed, but Colombia and Ecuador remained eligible for duty-free status until Congress did not extend the Act.
Gruenburg said the earliest that Congress could address reinstating the duty-free status would be the week of Feb. 28.
Pictured: Since Congress failed to extend the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act in February, flowers from Colombia and Ecuador are no longer entering the U.S. duty-free. Importers are now paying duties of 3.2%-6.8% on flowers coming from these two countries.
Photo courtesy of Asocolflores