The U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement has moved closer to submission to Congress. A new COA update looks at the progress and potential next steps for advancing the bilateral trade pact.

"Colombian goods already have low-tariff access to the U.S. market. So why not help U.S. exporters by opening up theirs?" write Senators Max Baucus and John Kerry in this op-ed for The Wall Street Journal.

Two House hearings provide a snapshot of the evolving congressional debate on the path to ratify the free-trade accord with Colombia.

The senate majority leader weighs in on immigration reform and the Colombia and Panama free trade pacts in the Winter 2011 issue of Americas Quarterly.

"This opportunity for bipartisan collaboration is particularly true of the Colombia deal," writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini on The Huffington Post, "but only if the president is able to overcome the opposition of one of the most vocal and intense coalitions of anti-free trade groups ever."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner suggested February 16 that free trade deals with Colombia and Panama should gain approval this year along with the South Korea trade pact. His comments coincide with an uptick in pressure to set timelines on the trade deals.

“Now is not the time to relinquish our historic leadership on trade in the hemisphere—it’s the time to renew it," said keynote speaker Senator John McCain before a panel on trade issues affecting the Americas.