Council of the Americas and the Millennium Challenge Corporation held a panel discussion with representatives from the U.S. government and the private sector to share experiences, challenges, and lessons learned to promote trade and development for aid effectiveness in Latin America.

During the 2011 summit, Peru and Chile focused on expanding bilateral ties with Asian counterparts, while the United States pushed forward with the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations.

"The delay in passing this [trade agreement with Colombia] called into question the United States’ reliability as a partner," says COA's Eric Farnsworth.

"My hope is today’s events will be the beginning of a renewed effort from the United States to engage in trade," says COA's Eric Farnsworth.

The U.S. House and Senate passage of bilateral free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama on October 12 clears the way for long-delayed implementation.

The White House submitted trade deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea on Monday. Key legislators indicated the long-pending deals could win approval before Congress breaks for recess later this month.

Both the administration and congressional Republicans must end the partisan wrangling over the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to pass pending U.S. trade pacts, write members of COA's Trade Advisory Group in The Washington Post.