But opponents charged that the package had grown into a massive giveaway that will add to the complexity of the tax system and end up rewarding multinational firms that move jobs overseas.
The purpose for the legislation was to repeal a $5 billion annual tax break provided to US exporters that was ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization. Repeal of the tax break was needed to lift retaliatory tariffs now being imposed on more than 1,600 US manufactured products and farm goods exported to Europe.
The bill replaces the $49.2 billion export tax break with $136 billion in new tax breaks over the next decade for an array of groups from farmers, fishermen, and bow and arrow hunters to some of America's largest corporations.
The legislation also includes a $10.1 billion buyout of quotas held by tobacco farmers. However, a Senate plan that would have coupled this buyout with regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration was dropped in conference committee. Some senators threatened to filibuster the bill in response. But Senate leaders said they believed they would be able to vote on the bill and send it to the president today or tomorrow.
