U.S.-Colombia trade deal is jobs bill: Senators

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is not a partisan political issue, but a different kind of jobs bill, which is conducive to the U.S. economic and foreign policy interests, two U.S. Democratic Senators said on Monday.

"Trade is critical to American innovation and economic growth. It can expand opportunity for workers and entrepreneurs, both at home and abroad," Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an article jointly written and released on Monday's Wall Street Journal.

The two Senators cited figures from the U.S. International Trade Commission to show that the U.S.-Colombia FTA would increase U.S. exports by more than 1 billion U.S. dollars a year.

"If we fail to act, we will continue to lose ground. Over the last two years, the U.S. share of Colombia's corn, wheat and soybean imports dropped by more than 60 percent. Argentina has surpassed the United States as Colombia's top supplier of agricultural products. China has tripled its share of the Colombian market and is now Colombia's second-largest trading partner. And Colombia is signing trade agreements with countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas that further disadvantage U.S. exporters," notes the article.

Baucus and Kerry called on bipartisan support in Washington to approve the deal to realize the jobs and exports opportunities. The U.S.-Colombia FTA was signed in 2006, but failed to be approved by the U.S. Congress due to a lack of bipartisan consensus.

The Obama administration announced last year that the nation would endeavor to double its export in the next five years.

Source: Xinhua News