By Doug PalmerThu Jun 29, 7:11 PM ET
The U.S. Senate approved a free
trade pact with Oman on Thursday, overcoming Democrats'
complaints that the Gulf Arab state has not done enough to
improve workers rights.
Senators voted 60-34 in favor of the pact, which would
boost U.S. economic ties with the Arab monarchy of about 3
million people that is a non-OPEC oil and natural-gas producer.
A key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives also
voted 23-15 to approve the pact, with the panel's Democrats
opposed. The party line vote sets the stage for a potentially
tough battle in the full House next month.
Oman is next door to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates, whose state-owned port company had to abandon plans
to buy terminal operation rights at major U.S. ports earlier
this year when that ignited a political firestorm.
Several Democrats argued the Oman pact raised similar
concerns.
"It makes no sense to me that we would hand over our
ability to stand up for America's national security interests
in the future and this agreement could lead to that," said Sen.
Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), a North Dakota Democrat.
But Sen. Orrin Hatch (news, bio, voting record), a Utah Republican, said the United
States could invoke a national security waiver to prevent Oman
companies from acquiring U.S. port operations.
Most of the debate focused on workers rights in Oman,
although some Democrats raised questions about whether Oman has
really ended a boycott on Israel.
"Oman has made solid commitments to address all labor
concerns and agreed to have them verifiable under the FTA (free
trade agreement) consultation mechanisms," House Ways and Means
Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, a California Republican, said.
But Democrats argued Bahrain took stronger steps as part of
a pact the House approved eight months ago -- before the Dubai
Ports World furor -- by a 327-95 bipartisan vote.
"Yes, Oman has made a commitment to change their laws by
October, but when we look at the practices on the ground, we
find there is not compliance with international standards,"
said Rep. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat.
Under the pact, both countries would immediately eliminate
duties on almost all industrial and consumer goods. An
exception is textiles and clothing -- a sensitive area for the
United States and a major Omani export -- where some
protections will remain.
Oman, whose population includes about 580,000 foreign
workers, also will open its doors to more U.S. services
industry companies in sectors such as banking and
telecommunications. Agricultural trade will be almost duty-free
from day one, and completely duty-free within 10 years.
The pact will help Oman diversify its oil-based economy,
Omani Commerce and Industry Minister Makboul bin Ali bin Sultan
said in an interview earlier this year. Two-way trade between
the United States and Oman was about $1 billion in 2005.
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