Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Colombia today on what the Globe and Mail is calling a “victory lap” ahead of the entry-into-force this coming Monday (August 15) of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

The two countries have negotiated an excellent agreement that will give their citizens and companies significant new business opportunities. The Canadian and Colombian governments are to be congratulated for the clear-eyed pursuit of their national interests.

But it still hurts. The United States was long a leader in world trade, but Americans aren’t just falling behind today — we are taking up the rear in the race for global markets.

Take wheat. With the implementation of the Canada-Colombia FTA, the United States is now the only major wheat provider for Colombian buyers not benefiting from permanent duty-free access to the Colombian market, according to the National Association of Wheat Growers.

This is a big deal. Colombia has been for many years one of world’s ten most lucrative markets for American wheat farmers. In 2003-2008, U.S. exports of wheat, corn, and soybeans to Colombia were expanding at annual growth rates averaging nearly 40%.

And then we began our time out on trade.

Largely as a result of Colombia’s earlier trade accord with Mercosur (which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), U.S. exports of wheat, corn, and soybeans have been hit hard, and the combined U.S. share of Colombia’s imports of these products has fallen from 78% in 2008 to 28% in 2010.

In the past two years, U.S. farmers and ranchers have lost more than $1 billion in sales to Colombia. These losses are especially obvious in agricultural commodities, where grain from one country is often a good substitute for grain from another. But similar losses are just around the corner for American manufacturers and service providers.

As the Globe and Mail, Canada’s newspaper of record, reports today:

“Canada has succeeded in beating the Americans to the punch in securing preferential market access to Colombia. A U.S.-Colombia deal has been stalled by lawmakers in Washington over what proponents call protectionist concerns.

“Ottawa took flak from human-rights advocates over a trade deal with Colombia, but Canadian Foundation for the Americas executive director Carlo Dade said recently that Mr. Harper’s drive to clinch the agreement was a gamble that’s been vindicated.”

It’s not too late for the United States. The Administration and Congress have pledged to take up the pending FTAs in September. There’s not a minute to lose.