Colombia Free Trade Agreement

March 11, 2008

The Bush Administration may try to force a vote in Congress on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). NETWORK, along with the Interfaith Working Group on International Trade and Investment, opposes the Colombia FTA.

What the Agreement Will Do

The Colombia FTA will undermine conditions for family farmers and farm workers in Colombia, requiring them to lower tariffs on agricultural imports.

This action could repeat what occurred in Mexico following the signing of  NAFTA. At that time, 1.3 million Mexican farmers were displaced when heavily subsidized U.S. agricultural products flooded the Mexican market, a key element in the migration of Mexicans to the U.S. In Colombia’s case, such action will only add to Colombia’s 3.8 million internally displaced people, which is second only to the Sudan, and disproportionately impact Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities.

Problems in Colombia

The case of Columbia also raises other serious issues. Many current or former high ranking government officials are under indictment or have been forced to resign because of their involvement with paramilitaries and drug trafficking. Four hundred union activists have been killed in Colombia since the current president took office in 2002.  Yet the Colombian government has failed to investigate those charges. One of the conditions of valid trade agreements is the guarantee of the rights of workers.  

NETWORK and the Interfaith Working Group on International Trade and Investment are telling members of Congress that the multiple problems existing within Colombia must be corrected before the United States enters into any trade relationship with that nation. 

The Status of the Agreement in Congress

Congressional leadership has not indicated any movement toward consideration of the Colombia FTA. Yet, the administration could force Congress to vote on the agreement. This power flows from the special rules that trade promotion authority gives to the president and under which the FTA was negotiated with Colombia.

Trade promotion authority requires that Congress give an up-or-down vote to any trade agreement negotiated by the administration.

The current congressional leadership has not set any date for consideration of the Colombia FTA. Speaker Pelosi hopes that the administration will follow established protocol and avoid confrontation with Congress, an action that would be considered counterproductive.