Just days before President Bush departed for a five-country tour of Latin America, COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth outlined key areas of cooperation at a hearing before the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
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.”
On December 12, AS/COA held the 6th Annual Latin America Conference , which examined regional politics, trade and economic reforms after the heaviest election year in Latin American history. The event, which also analyzed the future of U.S. policy in Latin America after the U.S. mid-term election, featured a keynote address by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Thomas Shannon.
In testimony to U.S. Congress, COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth offered support for the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.
On August 4, 2005 Colombian President Alvaro Uribe visited President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.