 |
|
|
SUBCOMMITTEES: Privacy, Copyright, and Permission to Link Statement |
Committee on Ways and Means For Immediate Release Chairman Thomas Comments on Ruling by WTO Appellate Panel WASHINGTON -- Today, the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Panel issued its report finding that the United States’ Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Regime (ETI), like its predecessor the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC), is a prohibited export subsidy under WTO rules. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) provided this reaction: Unfortunately, the Panel's decision clears the way for the European Commission to impose billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs beginning in April 2002 against U.S. exports. This most recent WTO ruling, though, should come as no surprise. The message has been clear for some time: Our current tax system must undergo fundamental change. We need to get on with the process of reform as soon as possible. Reform must be done in a careful and thoughtful manner so that U.S. businesses, workers and farmers are not unfairly disadvantaged in international trade. It is now clear that we have to reform the U.S. tax code not out of desire but out of necessity to maintain international competitiveness. |