HOUSE PASSES EXPORTERS TAX BREAK BILL

HOUSE PASSES EXPORTERS TAX BREAK BILL    The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that will continue tax breaks for U.S. companies that make or sell their products abroad.
   Supported by the Clinton Administration, the bill easily passed the House by a vote of 315-109.
      The legislative action was required to satisfy an Oct. 1 deadline set by the World Trade Organization to repeal certain provisions in a 1984 law that are viewed by European nations as amounting to illegal export subsidies.
      In 1984, Congress created the Foreign Sales Corporation program to offset a European Union tax rebate for its exporters. The program permitted U.S. companies to reduce income taxes by 15 percent through export subsidiaries set up in offshore jurisdictions such as Barbados and the Virgin Islands.
      The new legislation maintains the 15 percent tax cut, will cost the U.S. government roughly the same amount each year and meet WTO requirements.