In testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth calls on Congress to pass the pending bilateral trade agreement and re-authorize Plan Colombia. “The time to act is now” to support one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region.

Michael Bomba, a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, sees the estimated $5.2 billion canal improvement project as a natural response to significant developments in maritime trade over the past two decades. A third set of locks will allow for increased ship traffic along this strategic waterway.

Ambassador Veroneau discusses labor standards in pending hemispheric free-trade agreements and looks more broadly at trade promotion with Brazil and the rest of the Americas. How does Latin America’s developing trade relationship with Asia affect U.S. interests?

Topics in this issue: U.S. Free-Trade Agreements with Colombia, Peru and Panama
• Market access
• Services and investment
• Labor
• Export growth

“When you look at the statistics, we have lost jobs to China and India—countries where we do not have a freetrade agreement. So, it is not the free-trade agreements that cause the problem.”

The lessons on the merits of trade continue to resonate in the 21st century with the countries most threatening stability and peace being the ones least engaged in the global economy. As we continue to see today, trade is the best basis for a solid and sustainable relationship among countries and nations.

In testimony to U.S. Congress, COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth offered support for the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.