American Samoa got a direct benefit in the passage and signing today of the $700 billion financial bailout bill in Washington, D.C. The legislation includes a provision that continues tax breaks for tuna cannery owners in the U.S. territory.
“American Samoa’s economy is more than 80 percent dependent either directly or indirectly on the U.S. tuna fishing and processing industries, and the passage of 30A tax breaks to stabilize our cannery operations is critical for protecting the jobs of some 5,000 of our cannery workers,†said the territory’s congressional delegate, Faleomavaega Eni, in a statement announcing the provision to the bailout bill.
Faleomavaega thanked congressional leaders for including the tax provision in the bailout bill, despite what he called criticism and scrutiny by national media in the United States.
“In these financially difficult times when the U.S. federal government is having to bailout Wall Street to protect Main Street, I want to once again thank my colleagues for supporting my efforts to protect American Samoa’s economy in the process,†Faleomavaega said.
The tax break has been considered a key element in keeping American Samoa’s two canneries from closing their doors. There has been increasing concern that the territory’s rising minimum wage, mandated by the U.S. Congress to eventually match the U.S. federal minimum wage, would increase the likelihood that one or both of the canneries might close.
