Senate Acts on Czech Tariffs: The Senate...

Senate Acts on Czech Tariffs: The Senate approved normalizing trade relations with Czechoslovakia for the first time since World War II, reducing tariffs on its exports to the United States by up to 90%. On a voice vote with no opposition, it approved a trade agreement, signed last April by the Bush Administration, granting it “most-favored-nation” trade status. The House approved the agreement last week. The accord will effectively reduce by 90% the tariffs paid on about $82 million in Czech exports to the United States last year and open the way for increased business ties between the two countries. The effect will be to give Czechoslovakia a much broader U.S. market for its exports by cutting their prices to wholesalers, retailers and ultimately American consumers by as much as up to 40%.