Donohue: "Colombia Deserves a Vote"

WASHINGTON, D.C - Expressing strong support for the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue issued the following statement in response to President George W. Bush's decision to sign the agreement today and send implementing legislation to Congress for consideration tomorrow:

"Colombia deserves a vote. The facts clearly call for approval of this 'fair trade' agreement, both from an economic and a foreign policy perspective.

"Bipartisan majorities in Congress have voted repeatedly over the past two decades to allow imports from Colombia to enter the U.S. duty free. But U.S. exports to Colombia are slapped with tariffs that average 14 percent for manufactured goods and much higher for agricultural products.

"For American workers and farmers, that's just not fair. It's like starting a basketball game down a dozen points. This agreement will level the playing field for American workers by immediately sweeping aside most of Colombia's tariffs.

"Congress has a chance to leverage last year's bipartisan breakthrough on new ways to address labor and environmental concerns in trade agreements. This led an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority to approve a similar trade deal with Peru. Those same guarantees for workers and the environment are included in the Colombia agreement and should pave to the way for its passage.

"In recent years, Colombia has made tremendous progress spreading prosperity, ensuring the rule of law, and reducing violence to its lowest level in a generation. Brave Colombians have led this transformation, but it is also a bipartisan triumph for U.S. foreign policy, which lent support through Plan Colombia and trade preferences. Approving the trade agreement will allow Colombia to build on this progress.

"With U.S. credibility in the hemisphere hanging in the balance, a vote next year is not an option. To reject the agreement will do nothing to provide opportunities to working Americans on factory floors or Colombians rescuing their nation from drug violence. The Chamber urges Congress to approve the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement."

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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