| Colombia Deserves a Vote!
If I Had a Billion Dollars...
By Approving the Trade Agreement with Colombia,
Congress Can Give a Real Boost to America's Economy
It isn't often that Congress has a chance to vote up-or-down on a measure that will boost U.S. exports by a billion dollars and U.S. GDP by two billion dollars. But that's precisely what the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will do for the American economy.
Consider the estimates issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on how the Colombia agreement will affect U.S. workers, farmers, and businesses:
- Exports and Economic Growth: The ITC estimates U.S. exports to Colombia will increase by more than $1.1 billion, while imports will increase by $487 million. The agreement will add $2.5 billion per year to U.S. GDP.
- Level Playing Field: Level Playing Field: Level Playing Field: While U.S. companies currently face Colombian tariffs that average 14% for manufactured goods and much higher for farm products, fully 99% of imports from Colombia already enter the U.S. marketplace duty-free, and the average duty on imports from Colombia is nearly zero.
- Front-Loaded Tariff Reductions: The agreement provides U.S. exporters with immediate duty-free access to the Colombian market for 76% of industrial tariff lines and 77% of agricultural tariff lines upon entry-into-force.
- Access to Services Markets: The agreement provides U.S. services firms with unprecedented market access as well as national treatment and regulatory transparency. Sectors poised to benefit include computer and related services, real estate, construction, environmental, and pipeline transport services.
- Eliminate Bureaucratic Red Tape: Under the agreement, technical and regulatory standards will be much less likely to serve as a barrier to U.S. exports. U.S. farmers will benefit hugely from greater clarity on sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Customs modernization will lower the cost of trading to the benefit of Colombia, the U.S., and transport and logistics companies.
Isn't it time to give American businesses a better chance to compete in Colombia?
Colombia Deserves a Vote!
|
|  | |  | | Did you know?
| | | Fully 88% of Colombian children are enrolled in school, up
from 71% in 2001. Currently, 73% of Colombians have health care coverage, up from
54% in 2002.
| |  | |  |
| | | | Overheard
| | | ''President Uribe assured us that Colombia would fulfill its obligations to respect the environment and labor rights as part of our agreement. We witnessed firsthand Colombia's efforts to fulfill those commitments, strengthen its democracy, grow its economy, and eradicate narco-trafficking. Trade agreements like the Colombia FTA are important to the future of this country.''
-Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Chairwoman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee in InternationalTrade and Global Competitiveness
| | | | |
| |
