colombia trade

Constipated Colombia Pact

by Michael Fumento on April 8, 2011

in Economy, International, Trade

Post image for Constipated Colombia Pact

Pres. Obama has made expanding U.S. exports a centerpiece of his economic plan. In his January State of the Union Address, he noted that “95% of the world’s customers and fastest-growing markets are beyond our borders” and that export-related jobs “pay 15% more than average.” At a time when jobs are in short supply, he later said, “building exports is an imperative.”

So naturally, he’s done everything possible to ease passage of the Colombia Free Trade Pact, which the Bush Administration negotiated and the then-Democrat controlled Congress battled up. Right? Wrong.

As I write in Investor’s Business Daily, the Pact is lopsided towards the U.S. in that Colombia’s exports to us are already tariff-free, while our products sent there carry duties of up to 25 percent — an estimated $3.2 billion total since the agreement was reached.

Those tariffs would disappear and, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission, expand opportunities for a broad array of U.S. sectors, increase our gross domestic product by about $2.5 billion, lower our massive trade deficit and create J-O-B-S.

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Last-minute push for Colombia trade pact

by Fran Smith on November 12, 2008

in International, Trade

Major newspapers around the country including the Washington Post, the LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal are urging President-elect Barack Obama to pass the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in the lame duck session. The Los Angeles Times said it bluntly, “It’s time to stop playing games with a trade pact whose economic and political benefits are good for both nations.”

Some reports of the meeting between the president-elect and President Bush said that the president had pushed for the trade agreement in exchange for support of the auto loan package, but that was denied.

CEI has strongly supported the passage of this agreement based on its own merits — it provides surety for continued liberalized trade for Colombia, it opens up Colombian markets to U.S. goods without high tariffs, and it helps cement the close relationship with a Latin American ally besieged by leftist neighboring governments.