Before taking is summer recess, Congress approved free trade agreements with Australia and Morocco.
The Australian pact had the strong endorsement of the US textile industry, but it was opposed to
the Morocco agreement because it permits specified amounts of yarn and fabric from
non-participating countries to enjoy the same quota and tariff preferences as products from
Morocco. The United States now has free trade agreements with Canada, Mexico, Israel, Jordan,
Australia , Morocco and Singapore, as well as regional pacts with the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan
African nations. This action pretty well wraps up the Bush administrations ambitious free trade
initiatives for this year, as a major agreement with the Central American nations is pending but
will not be dealt with a by Congress in an election year in view of its highly controversial
nature.
August 2004
