In testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth notes that passage of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement is a rare opportunity to advance fundamental strategic policy interests while promoting U.S. economic, labor, and environmental interests.

This month, AS/COA provides an update on the status of trade legislation and the farm bill. With Congress on recess for the next month, forward movement will have to wait for September.

During an August summit of North American leaders in Canada, the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC)—a trilateral council of business leaders representing the private sectors of Canada, Mexico, and the United States—offered recommendations on border-crossing facilitation, standards and regulatory cooperation, and energy integration. To download the report, click here. For more about the NACC, click here.

As the U.S. population ages and birth rates decline, immigrant labor will be one of the few sources for future labor growth, writes AS/COA Director of Policy, Jason Marczak. Across the Atlantic, foreign-born labor is also an important economic resource but integration policies stifle newcomers’ ability to contribute economically.

Topics in this issue
   • Democrats and Bush administration reach compromise on trade
   • Enforcing labor standards
   • Revising intellectual property rights
   • Environment
   • Effects on Trade Promotion Authority

Topics in this issue
   • Senators debates immigration reform
   • Major legislative provisions
   • The Mexican perspective

Immigration, pending hemispheric free-trade agreements, economic policy, and Latin American development initiatives were discussed at the Washington Launch of the new AS/COA policy journal, Americas Quarterly, on Wednesday, May 30, and covered live by C-SPAN 2.