{"id":12542,"date":"2012-07-19T00:59:35","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T22:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/07\/update-1-us-senate-panel-okays-renewal-of-africa-clothing-trade-benefit\/"},"modified":"2012-07-19T00:59:35","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T22:59:35","slug":"update-1-us-senate-panel-okays-renewal-of-africa-clothing-trade-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/update-1-us-senate-panel-okays-renewal-of-africa-clothing-trade-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE 1-US Senate panel okays renewal of Africa clothing trade benefit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

(Adds Kirk statement)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, July 18<\/span> (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Finance
\nCommittee voted on Wednesday to renew an expiring trade benefit
\nthat has helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the
\nAfrican clothing industry over the past decade.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“A timely extension of this provision will help stem the
\ntide of job losses in Africa and it will ensure that U.S.
\nretailers will have the certainty they need to help their
\nbusinesses succeed and grow,” Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a
\nMontana Democrat, said.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), first passed
\nby Congress in 2000, allows eligible countries in sub-Saharan
\nAfrica to ship thousands of goods to the United States without
\npaying import duties.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

A provision that expires Sept. 30 waives duties on clothing
\nfrom most AGOA countries, even if the yarn or fabric is made in
\na “third country” such as China, South Korea or Vietnam.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“It is critical for workers and businesses in the U.S. and
\nAfrica that we extend this key provision before it is due to
\nexpire in September,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in
\na statement after the vote.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“Just last week, I visited a textile factory in Ghana that
\nwill likely have to close its doors and lay off nearly 500
\nemployees if Third-Country Fabric expires – and that is just one
\nexample,” Kirk said.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

President Barack Obama’s administration had hoped to win
\nrenewal of the provision ahead of an annual forum with AGOA
\nbeneficiary countries in June.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill, which is coupled with legislation to extend
\nsanctions on Myanmar for three years, has broad bipartisan
\nsupport and is expected to pass easily if it gets to the floor
\nin the Senate and the House of Representatives for votes.<\/p>\n

(Reporting By Doug Palmer; Editing by Paul Simao and Vicki
\nAllen)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\u00a9 Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Adds Kirk statement) WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted on Wednesday to renew an expiring trade benefit that has helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the African clothing industry over the past decade. “A timely extension of this provision will help stem the tide of job losses in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-12542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}