Should Congress Reverse Course on Colombia? YES!
The Chamber's Dan Christman, Senior Vice President for International Affairs, had an op/ed this weekend on trade with Colombia. Below are some selections or you can read the whole thing:
The outcry has been astonishing. On April 10, the House of Representatives voted to shelve the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. Since then, people from all walks of life - across the United States and throughout the Americas - have urged Congress to reverse course and approve the agreement.
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The House vote was mystifying because approval of this "fair trade" agreement is overwhelmingly in the interests of American workers and farmers. In equal measure, the agreement is critical to the foreign policy interests of the United States in the strategically important Andean region.The economic case for the agreement centers on fairness. Nearly all imports from Colombia enter the U.S. market duty free under the Andean Trade Preference Act, which Congress has renewed repeatedly with support of Democrats, Republicans, the business community and even the AFL-CIO.
By contrast, U.S. exporters face double-digit tariffs when they try to sell their goods in Colombia.
This status quo obviously is unfair to American workers, farmers and businesses. Congress has a duty to look out for the trading interests of American citizens at least as carefully as it does those of our friends and allies overseas.
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Across the country and the hemisphere, people are asking: What possible benefit can there be in defeating this trade agreement?To allow it to die is to forego its economic benefits and alienate a close ally. The only reasonable response is for the House to reverse course, and approve the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.
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