Today, the Chamber spearheaded a bipartisan letter signed by 27 former senior U.S. government officials calling for action on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) as well as the trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.

The letter to House and Senate leadership includes signatories that range from former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Madeline Albright…to former U.S. Trade Representatives Mickey Kantor and Susan Schwab...to former White House Chiefs of Staff Mack McLarty and Andy Card. It points out how critical KORUS is to American job creation and competiveness.  The letter states:

KORUS—the most economically significant trade agreement (FTA) negotiated by theUnited States in over 15 years—would boost U.S. goods exports by up to $11 billion dollars andU.S. GDP by nearly $12 billion, according to the independent, nonpartisan U.S. InternationalTrade Commission. The agreement would create as many as 70,000 new jobs for Americans at atime when we most need them.

The letter was released to coincide with a House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on KORUS, at which John Schoch of Profile Products, LLC, are testifying on the Chamber’s behalf and Citi’s Bill Rhodes is doing so on behalf of the Chamber-affiliated U.S.-Korea Business Council.

The action around KORUS comes hours ahead of a meeting between President Obama and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in which they’ll discuss the great news that the U.S. and Colombia reached an agreement that opens the door for approval of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.  The Latin American Trade Coalition, for which the Chamber serves as secretariat, has gathered dozens of statements of support from companies and associations on the news.

The time for action on these pending trade agreements is now.