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US House Representative passed a Haiti textile-benefits trade bill despite heated objections from U.S. textile interests.

Posted on Sat, Dec. 09, 2006

HAITI: House passes textile trade bill

The House passed a Haiti textile-benefits bill despite heated objections from U.S. textile interests.

WASHINGTON - The House approved a sweeping trade bill Friday that triggered a late swell of controversy as textile-state lawmakers attempted to defeat provisions that extend preferences to Haiti.

The bill passed 212-184, propelled by an unusual alliance -- pro-free-rade Republicans and Democrats keen on helping a nation long trapped in a cycle of poverty and political strife.

The bill went on to the Senate where it was unclear if it had the 60 votes needed for quick passage as Congress wrapped up its 109th session. The Senate planned to work into the weekend if necessary.

The Haiti provisions were bundled in an expansive package of legislation that included normalizing trade relations with Vietnam and extending special benefits to four Andean and 37 African nations.

The Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act, or HOPE, allows Haitian textile manufacturers to include some yarns and fabrics from China in the garments they export duty-free to the United States. The idea is to generate much-needed jobs in Haiti's labor-intensive garment industry.

Florida Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek said that in the past two years 15 garment factories have closed in Port-au-Prince.

''By failing to act, Congress and the Bush Administration have had a direct hand in causing this miserable situation,'' he said, noting that the average Haitian garment worker earns $4 a day, while 77 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day.

U.S. textile groups argued, however, that the Haiti bill would provide a back-door entry into the U.S. market for Chinese producers, costing the U.S. industry up to $220 million in annual business.

Eight Republican senators from North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky sent a letter to House and Senate leaders and proponents of the Haiti textile bill saying trade agreements had already cost 100,000 jobs and that they would oppose the provision ``as forcefully as possible.''

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) and others have threatened to delay the package if the Haiti provisions are in it. But Sen. Mike DeWine, the outgoing Republican from Ohio, threatened to do the same if the Haitian provisions were taken out of the bill.

DeWine has been one of Haiti's most passionate champions in Congress, helping steer millions of dollars in additional U.S. aid to the country. He has visited Haiti 16 times during his 30-year political career and a school in Cité Soleil, one of Port-au-Prince's most dangerous and poorest slums, is named after DeWine's daughter, Becky, who died in a car accident.

The lawmaker enlisted Haitian hip-hop star Wyclef Jean to help push for the Haiti bill in Congress.

DeWine introduced the original Haiti trade bill in 2004 and then a watered-down version was introduced in the Senate a year later. Outgoing Florida Republican Rep. Clay Shaw introduced a companion bill in the House.

But the Republican leadership, facing objections from textile-state lawmakers, refused to put the bill up for a vote. The Bush administration never endorsed HOPE.

U.S. textile groups also point out that Haiti's textile industry is now showing signs of life, with exports to the United States jumping 11 percent to $432 million last year.

Supporters of the Haiti bill brushed off the objections of U.S. textile interests.

''It really amazes me,'' New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, the incoming chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, said of the textile industry concerns. ``God should be so good to the people in Haiti that their exports should be a threat to the United States of America. That's not going to happen.''

But some legislators opposed the bill because the United States was upgrading its trading relationship with Vietnam.

''I strongly support free trade with free nations,'' said Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart. ``I cannot in good conscience support free trade with a nation like Vietnam, which imprisons political dissidents, suppresses religious freedom and violates even the most basic of human rights.''