WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Valuable U.S. trade benefits for the Andean region and about 130 other developing countries could expire, at least temporarily, at the end of year unless Congress takes action in coming days.
The looming expiration creates uncertainty for foreign companies who rely on the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA) and the much larger Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program for duty-free access to the United States.
Colombian officials, in particular, are worried that even a temporary expiration would add to the problems the country faces after heavy rains and flooding that drove nearly 2 million people from their homes.
The government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Monday estimated damages from the country's worst natural disaster could reach 10 trillion pesos, which is approximately $5.2 billion.
The Colombian flower industry is a major beneficiary of APTA, which slashes duties on imports of clothing, vegetables, plastics, aluminum products and other goods from the region to support jobs.
An expiration would also hurt U.S. companies and consumers that benefit from lower-cost imports from the countries.
Representative Sander Levin has introduced a bill to extend the two programs and a third known as Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), which helps retrain workers who have lost their jobs because of trade competition.
Levin, the outgoing Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, hopes for a vote in the House on his package by the end of the week.
But Senator Charles Grassley, a senior Republican, opposes the Levin bill because it does not address his objections to a Labor Department rule that requires TAA to be administered by unionized state employees.
Grassley wants the final deadline for states to comply with the rule to be postponed and the Levin bill does not do that.
"So, Senator Grassley doesn't support the Levin bill," a Grassley spokeswoman said.
A second congressional aide said "the Levin bill has no chance at all of passing the Senate and would be dead in the water the minute it arrives."
But "the Senate is actively working to find a solution to extend all of the expiring trade programs before the end of the year," the aide said.
Congress is unlikely to let the programs lapse permanently, even if it fails to pass an extension by Dec. 31.
However, work could be delayed in 2011 because of the time it would take to educate new members on the issue.
President Barack Obama's administration supports extending both ATPA and GSP and has been working with Congress toward that end, said Nkenge Harmon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Todd Eastham)