Once again, Caracas iced ties with Bogota and suggested it would look elsewhere for imports. The move came in response to Colombian allegations that Venezuelan arms fell into guerrilla hands. An AS/COA news analysis looks at Colombian trade relations with its neighbor and regional partners.

"We are at a tipping point. If national leaders turn to protectionism for domestic political reasons, we'll likely see policies that do lasting damage to global trade flows" writes UPS CEO Scott Davis in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal.

Writing in Financial Times, AS/COA Chairman William R. Rhodes calls for countries to avoid protectionist measures at the upcoming Group of Eight summit and to back up the pro-trade rhetoric of the recent G20 meeting with concrete action.

U.S. President Barack Obama expressed support for a bilateral trade deal and suggested two terms in office are sufficient when he hosted his Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe on June 29.

A Canadia-Colombia free trade deal awaits parliamentary approval in Ottawa. Canadian Senator Pamela Wallin writes that, despite resistance among some members of Parliament, "Colombia needs a helping hand—not a cold shoulder."

With trade a hard sell in Washington these days, it's time for the White House to actively support a free trade agreement with Panama, argues COA's Eric Farnsworth in Poder. The election of businessman Ricardo Martinelli as Panama's new president demonstrates the country's commitment to global commerce as a means to economic growth.

Speaking at COA's Washington Conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, and Mexico's Finance Secretary Agustín Carstens joined others in discussing policy issues affecting the hemisphere.