This pact is expected to increase U.S. exports to Colombia by more than $1 billion a year, and could result in the creation of thousands of American jobs. Congress must approve the agreement before it can be implemented.

So what are the benefits to U.S. exporters?

• A majority of U.S. agricultural exports to Colombia will become duty-free and almost all tariffs will be eliminated within 15 years
• 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial goods to Colombia will also become duty-free, with the remaining tariffs being eliminated over the next 10 years

It’s unclear when the agreement will be sent to Congress for a vote, but many feel that confirming the deal now is critical. Doing so will allow the U.S. to maintain an economic foothold in the country.

For more information, check out the full article.

Jim McNerney, Chief Executive of Boeing, noted that the US economy is still “fragile” and said “We need to borrow less, save more, become more efficient and competitive and bring our exports back in line with our imports. Opening up and expanding new markets is paramount,” in his speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

The Financial Times states:

As chairman of President Barack Obama’s export council, Mr McNerney has been tasked with leading industry’s side of a campaign to double US exports within five years – an effort that the White House projects will create two million US jobs. Boeing is the world’s second-largest aircraft-maker and one of the US’s biggest exporting companies.

McNerney also added, “The Obama administration, in my view, is not moving fast enough. I would encourage them to move faster on … free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama.”

Although the US signed trade agreements with South Colombia, South Korea, and Panama in 2006 and 2007, Congress has failed to approve the agreements. Companies are looking to President Obama to get the ball rolling again to pass these agreements into effect.

Specifically, McNerney believes Korea and Colombia to be new markets where European corporations (Ahem, Airbus perhaps?) were able to export under a lower-tariff regime than US Companies.

Read more at: “Boeing urges faster action on trade deals” in the Financial Times.

To help offset a drop in trade due to disputes with Venezuela, Colombia is accelerating its drive to diversify sales abroad. More than 360 Colombian exporters are visiting Miami this week for pre-arranged meetings with more than 240 importers from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean islands, said Maria Elvira Pombo, president of Colombia’s export promotion agency Proexport.

Colombia held similar but smaller export events recently in Chile, Brazil and Guatemala, she said.

Read more about the event at the Chicago Tribune:  Colombia holds major export event in Miami

Locke outlined 4 strategies for increasing exports. I’m not counting his “other strategies” here, IMO “other” is not a strategy!

• Boosting Trade Promotion Activities: Encourage companies to export or export to multiple countries
• Business Visa Reform: Make it easier for foreign company execs to enter the US for business purposes
• Export Controls: Locke has directed BIS to explore 2 reforms: eliminating dual-use export license requirements for allies and partner nations, and implementing a fast-track procedure for the review of dual-use export licenses for other countries that do not pose a significant proliferation concern.
• Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement: With US Companies losing $200-$250 billion a year to counterfeiting and piracy, The department’s Trade Agreements Compliance Program “will play an important role in this monitoring and enforcement work.”

Regarding “Other Strategies,” Locke says:

Photo by Randy Son Of Robert

“Whether that involves our State Department writing a letter on behalf of an American company that wants to do business in Russia, or our Department of Energy helping to facilitate renewable energy partnerships between U.S. companies and the Chinese government, every federal department has a role to play in promoting American business.”

Mmm-hmm… Yep, everyone knows that writing a letter is a sure way to get results. And guessing by the speed & efficiency of most of the federal government, I would expect that American company hoping to do business in Russia to see that letter in about 3 years. Sounds like a great plan!

Or… how about approving pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama? Duty-free access to new, developing markets would boost exports!

Unfortunately Locke left this out of the speech.  Today, at a luncheon hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore Locke said, “Trade agreements are going to have to wait. Right now, the administration is focused on a very aggressive and very tight legislative agenda.” Locke also said Obama has an ambitious high-priority legislative agenda focusing on health care, financial regulation and alternative energy.

Read the complete text of the speech.

Read a handy summary of the speech.

Pres. Correa briefly touches upon his views on free trade agreements, quoted below from Democracy Now.

AMY GOODMAN: You are not talking about a free trade agreement with the United States, but you are with the European Union. Why?

PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA: [translated] No, we’re not talking about a free trade agreement with the European Union; we’re talking about fair trade for development. And that’s how the agreement was originally posed. First, a block-to-block agreement between the European Union and the Andean community, with three pillars: a political dialogue, cooperation and trade. And this last one, trade, is understood as trade for development.

Unfortunately, all of that has been deteriorating. Among the reasons, because two of the Andean community countries already have a free trade agreement with the United States, and I’m referring to Colombia and Peru. And they have very little to lose in the negotiations with the European Union. So, the first thing that collapsed was the block-to-block negotiation.

And it’s clear that the emphasis was focused on the trade aspect. And I should also recognize that from the European Union, they tried to approach it as a free trade agreement, which has always been rejected by Ecuador. We’re interested in all three dimensions of the agreement: political dialogue, cooperation and trade. And within trade, we’re talking about fair trade, not the idea of free trade, which we see as simplistic, liberalizing everything. And we’re engaged in tough negotiations with the European Union on this.

Now, in the event that we’re not satisfied with the agreements that result, then we simply won’t sign. But I reiterate, we’re not negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union.

President Correa also discusses US-Latin American relations, mining and oil corporations in the Amazon (Peru and Ecuador), and US-Colombia relations.

Read the complete transcript of the interview or watch the video interview at DemocracyNow.org.