Kenneth Duberstein, White House chief of staff for President Reagan, and Mr. Thomas McLarty, White House chief of staff for President Clinton, published a joint op-ed today in the Wall Street Journal on the importance of active engagement in the global economy to America's future properity.  They then discuss the importance of, and their support for, the U.S.-Colombia trade agreement.

On the trade front, it is important to understand that, as Under Secretary of Commerce Chris Padilla has said, the U.S. already has free trade with Colombia – but it's "one-way free trade." Thanks to the Andean Trade Preferences Act, which Congress passed 16 years ago, Colombian exporters pay tariffs on only 8% of the goods they send to the U.S. Meanwhile, U.S. exporters currently pay tariffs – some as high as 35% -- on 97% of the products we sell Colombia.

The U.S.-Colombia FTA would level this uneven playing field, eliminating the tariffs on U.S. goods and creating new market access for U.S. service suppliers. And it would do all of this with a major trading partner. The U.S. exports more to Colombia than Russia, even though Russia has a population that is three times larger and an economy seven times that of Colombia.

Under the agreement now before Congress, U.S. exports to Colombia, from cars to chemicals to consumer products, would grow by an estimated $1 billion per year – a direct benefit to U.S. workers and their families. From Colombia's perspective, the FTA would add a welcome dimension of certainty to our trading relationship, encouraging investors to commit to Colombia and help create jobs there, too.

In addition, the agreement would send an important signal of support to a close neighbor, friend and ally. Over the past 10 years, Colombia has made tremendous political and economic progress, and great strides in turning back the tide of narco-terrorism that threatened the region's stability. The U.S. has been a key partner in that effort – beginning with the Clinton administration's 1999 aid plan, which continues as Plan Colombia. The results are impressive. Roughly 30,000 paramilitary fighters have been demobilized. Terrorist attacks, kidnappings and homicides in Colombia have plummeted over the past several years. A decade ago, residents of Medellin – the center of the drug trade in Colombia – would not visit their local plaza without armed bodyguards. Today, parents and children enjoy the city's plazas and parks without fear.

To be sure, there still is work to be done. While Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has taken significant steps to protect trade unionists, for example, violence persists against labor leaders. But as the many Colombian unions that support the trade agreement know, rejecting the agreement will not save a single life – whereas passing it will be a powerful vote of confidence in the democracy Colombians have struggled so hard to protect. The regional role of Colombia as an enduring democracy, working in partnership with the U.S., is a powerful signal to neighboring countries as well.
...
The U.S.-Colombia FTA merits bipartisan support. We also believe that restoring a durable bipartisan consensus on trade requires our leaders to work harder at ensuring that no one gets left behind.

Exports accounted for 40% of America's economic growth in 2007; trade creates jobs, higher wages and lower prices in aggregate terms. Yet people don't live their lives in the aggregate – they live as individuals. The skies may look bright at 40,000 feet, but that's no help to someone struggling to make ends meet on the ground.

That's why those of us who believe in the power of open markets, and who want to see closer ties of trade and investment around the world, need to do more to help workers, families and communities adapt to change. The more we can do to soften trade's blows, the easier it will be to spotlight trade's benefits – which, in the case of the U.S.-Colombia FTA, are substantial and deserve our support.