COMMITTEE on WAYS and MEANS

Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX), Chairman, Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the pending trade agreement with Panama.  This hearing is the second in a series of hearings on the pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea.  The hearing will take place on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 1:30 P.M. 

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only.  However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.  A list of invited witnesses will follow.

BACKGROUND:

            In 2007, the United States signed a trade agreement with Panama, which still awaits Congressional consideration.  On January 25, 2011, the Ways and Means Committee held its first hearing on this agreement, along with the pending Colombia and South Korea trade agreements. 

The Panama trade agreement was also discussed at the Ways and Means Committee hearing with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, on February 9, 2011.  At that hearing, Ambassador Kirk noted Panama’s important steps in addressing certain labor and tax issues considered outstanding.  In his testimony, as well as in response to Chairman Camp’s request that Ambassador Kirk set forth a concrete timeline for Congressional consideration of the Panama trade agreement within the first six months of the year, Ambassador Kirk said that the President directed him to immediately intensify engagement with Panama, like Colombia, to resolve outstanding issues as soon as possible.  Ambassador Kirk soon after held consultations with the Panamanian government. 

The U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement would open new markets to U.S. exports and, in turn, benefit American businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers.  The independent U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) estimates that implementing the agreement would increase U.S. exports of key products to Panama by up to 145 percent.  Under the agreement, over 88 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial goods and over 50 percent of U.S. agriculture exports would immediately become duty-free.  Such benefits will be long-lasting.  Indeed, since 2000, U.S. exports to the 13 countries with which we have implemented trade agreements have grown nearly twice as fast as our worldwide exports. 

The agreement also increases access to the Panamanian services market.  Services already account for 76 percent of Panama’s GDP and promise further growth as Panama increases its role as a Latin American and global trade and logistics hub, creating new opportunities for U.S. businesses and workers. 

Concerns have been raised about Panama’s refusal to provide the United States with certain information needed to enforce U.S. tax laws.  In November 2010, the United States and Panama signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement to address those concerns.  In announcing the agreement, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that it "usher[ed] in a new era of openness and transparency for tax information between the United States and Panama."   Panama has also made several changes to its labor laws.

Panama has already concluded trade agreements with major trading partners and U.S. export competitors, such as Canada and the European Union, which remove barriers to exports from those countries.  Failure to implement our own trade agreement with Panama could thus severely disadvantage U.S. exporters and in turn jeopardize U.S. job creation. 

In announcing this hearing, Chairman Brady said, “Opening up dynamic new markets like Panama for American goods and services must be a priority for robust U.S. long-term growth.  That is why we need to move forward with the U.S.-Panama trade agreement to create good U.S. jobs and increase the competitiveness of U.S. exporters, as well as to preserve U.S. influence and leadership in our hemisphere.  We will lose this opportunity if the United States sits on the sidelines while Panama continues to grow and implements trade agreements with our major competitors.  American workers, farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, service providers, and other exporters will simply be left behind.  We need a concrete plan now from the Administration for moving forward with the Panama agreement to allow Congressional consideration of all three pending trade agreements by July 1.”

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The focus of the hearing is on Congressional consideration of the pending trade agreement with Panama.  The hearing will address the economic benefits this agreement will bring to American businesses, farmers, workers, consumers, and the U.S. economy.  In addition, the hearing will examine the national security and geopolitical implications of the agreement, as well as Panama’s tax transparency.

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.  From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “Hearings.”  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.”  Once you have followed the online instructions, submit all requested information. ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by the close of business on Wednesday, April 13, 2011.  Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings. For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-6649.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

                    The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.  As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee.  The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines.  Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below.  Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1. All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments. Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased.  All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3. All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone, and fax numbers of each witness.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.  If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested).  Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.

Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available at http://www.waysandmeans.house.gov/