Whereas, on November 22, 2006, the United States and
Colombia signed a trade agreement known as the United States-Colombia Trade
Promotion Agreement;
Whereas following the signing of the initial text and
after extensive consultations with Congress that led to a bipartisan agreement,
the United States and Colombia agreed to the inclusion of additional
provisions;
Whereas the Colombian Legislature ratified the modified
Trade Agreement on October 30, 2007, with commitments on labor rights,
environment, and additional provisions;
Whereas, on April 6, 2011, the United States and Colombia
announced an agreement on outstanding labor issues in Colombia;
Whereas the agreed Action Plan Related to Labor
Rights
, released on April 7, 2011, includes very significant
commitments by Colombia regarding its Labor Ministry, Criminal Code reform,
cooperatives, temporary service agencies, collective pacts, essential services,
the International Labor Organization Office in Colombia, protection programs,
criminal justice reform, and a follow-up mechanism that sets forth a timetable
for implementation;
Whereas the United States has not yet ratified the Trade
Agreement and, in the 1,620 days since it was signed, U.S. exporters have paid
more than $3,440,000,000 in tariffs that they would not have had to pay had the
Trade Agreement been in force;
Whereas United States exports to Colombia reached
$12,000,000,000 in 2010;
Whereas Colombia is the second-largest market in South
America for United States exports, after only Brazil;
Whereas Colombia is the second-largest market in the
Spanish-speaking world for United States exports, after only Mexico;
Whereas two-way trade between the United States and
Colombia was valued at $28,000,000,000 in 2010;
Whereas Colombia is the United States third-largest
trading partner in Latin America, after Mexico and Brazil;
Whereas over the last 5 years, Colombia has been the
largest market for United States agriculture exports in South America and the
third-largest market in the Western Hemisphere;
Whereas Colombia has agriculture exports with the United
States totaling $4,300,000,000 in only the last five years;
Whereas over the 5-year period from 2004 to 2008, United
States agriculture exports to Colombia grew at an average annual rate of 38
percent;
Whereas the Economist Intelligence Unit, an independent
source of global market analysis, named Colombia in 2010 as the first of 6
CIVETS
emerging economies with the best growth prospects for
this decade;
Whereas expanding and creating new markets through trade
agreements, such as the Colombia Trade Agreement, is of vital importance to
achieving the President's export goals as stated through the National Export
Initiative;
Whereas analysis by the United States International Trade
Commission (ITC) estimates that United States exports to Colombia will increase
by $1,100,000,000 with the Trade Agreement;
Whereas according to the ITC's analysis, the Trade
Agreement will add $2,500,000,000 per year to United States Gross Domestic
Product (GDP);
Whereas more than 99 percent of Colombian exports already
enter the United States duty-free under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA),
although the benefits of ATPA have been interrupted since February 13,
2011;
Whereas the average tariff paid by Colombian exports to
the United States in 2009 and 2010 was less than one percent;
Whereas the Trade Agreement will reduce the average tariff
faced by United States exporters by more than 68 percent, from 11.2 percent in
2009 to 3.6 percent immediately upon implementation of the Agreement;
Whereas over 80 percent of United States exports of
consumer and industrial products to Colombia will become duty-free immediately
upon implementation of the Trade Agreement, with remaining tariffs phased out
over 10 years;
Whereas, in contrast to the already advantageous tariffs
faced by Colombian exports into the United States, U.S. agriculture exports to
Colombia currently face an average tariff of 20 percent;
Whereas, immediately upon implementation of the Trade
Agreement, Colombia will give duty-free treatment to U.S. exporters for 78
percent of Colombia's agriculture tariff lines;
Whereas within five years of implementation of the Trade
Agreement, nearly 93 percent of all of Colombia's agriculture tariff lines will
be duty-free for U.S. exporters;
Whereas the Trade Agreement would immediately eliminate
Colombia's price-band system, which imposes a variable charge on top of the
regular import duties on key agriculture exports such as poultry, pork, dairy,
barley, wheat, sorghum, corn, sugar, and rice;
Whereas, under the Trade Agreement, Colombia will lift
unscientific BSE-related restrictions on U.S. agricultural exports, and
Colombia will recognize the equivalence of the U.S. food safety system for
meat, poultry, and processed foods;
Whereas the American Farm Bureau estimates that the
increase in United States agriculture exports to Colombia as a result of the
Trade Agreement could exceed $690,000,000, more than doubling current United
States agriculture exports;
Whereas the ITC estimates that the Trade Agreement will
increase U.S. wheat exports to Colombia by 11 percent; other grains by 20
percent; vegetables, fruits, and nuts by 32 percent; beef by 46 percent; dairy
by 110 percent; and processed rice by 646 percent;
Whereas in 2009, 41 U.S. States exported agriculture
products to Colombia;
Whereas the Trade Agreement will provide U.S. service
firms with market access, national treatment, and regulatory transparency that
exceed that afforded by the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS),
including by reducing Colombia's barriers in the banking sector by more than
half, according to ITC estimates;
Whereas the Trade Agreement will result in an increase in
U.S. exports of fabric, yarn, and other textiles to Colombia for use in its
apparel industry, according to ITC estimates, and the agreement does not allow
the use of third-country fabrics through a trade preference level, so Chinese
inputs will not obtain increased access to the U.S. market;
Whereas the United States is losing market share in key
Colombian import markets because other major countries whose exporters compete
with U.S. exporters have been negotiating and implementing trade agreements
with Colombia, while the United States delays ratification of its own pending
Trade Agreement;
Whereas, on January 1, 2009, agricultural provisions of
Colombia's trade agreement with Argentina, Brazil, and other MERCOSUR countries
went into force, giving exporters from those countries a substantial tariff
advantage over U.S. exporters;
Whereas, on November 21 2008, Colombia and Canada signed a
Trade Agreement, which has been ratified by both countries and approved by
Colombia's Constitutional Court, and is expected to go into effect by July 1,
2011, giving Canadian exporters a substantial tariff advantage over U.S.
exporters;
Whereas, on March 1, 2010, Colombia and the European Union
completed negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to be
ratified this year;
Whereas, on December 7, 2009, Colombia and South Korea
launched Free Trade Agreement negotiations, which are ongoing;
Whereas, on March 15, 2010, Colombia and Panama launched
Free Trade Agreement negotiations, which are ongoing;
Whereas, upon entry into force of the agricultural
provisions of the Colombia-MERCOSUR trade agreement, United States exports to
Colombia of key agricultural products declined 48 percent in 2009 and another
45 percent in 2010;
Whereas the agricultural provisions of the
Colombia-MERCOSUR trade agreement reduced the U.S. share of Colombia's import
market for key agricultural products from 71 percent to 27 percent in two
years;
Whereas the United States lost 44 percentage points of
market share (from 71 percent to 27 percent) in Colombia;
Whereas Argentina gained nearly exactly the amount of
market share, 37 percentage points, in Colombia that was lost by the United
States, over the same time period;
Whereas United States farmers saw their exports of corn,
wheat, and soybeans to Colombia plummet from $1,100,000,000 in 2008 to only
$343,000,000 in 2010, a decline of 68 percent;
Whereas while U.S. exports to Colombia have plummeted as a
result of failure to ratify the Trade Agreement, U.S. exports to Peru have
increased dramatically as a result of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion
Agreement (PTPA) implementation in 2009;
Whereas between 2008 and 2010, United States exports of
corn, wheat, and soybeans to Peru increased by a combined 99 percent because of
the implementation of that agreement;
Whereas the United States Department of Agriculture
recently released a report showing that the United States-Peru Trade Promotion
Agreement has helped make Peru the fastest growing market in South
America for the United States
;
Whereas in fiscal year 2010, United States agricultural
exports to Peru reached $737,000,000, up 258 percent from fiscal year
2006;
Whereas Colombia projects that it will increase its
infrastructure spending to more than $125,000,000,000 over the next decade,
focused especially on energy, oil and gas, roads, ports, and airports;
Whereas the Trade Agreement will help American exporters
and service firms to compete for infrastructure-related exports and service
contracts, which produce good jobs for American workers;
Whereas the Chief Executive Officer of Caterpillar, Doug
Oberhelman, testified in a Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on March
30, 2011, that the manufacturer of a construction vehicle can expect to
generate sales equivalent to three times the sale value of the vehicle through
parts and related purchases during the lifespan of the vehicle;
Whereas five major Colombian cities are in the process of
upgrading their mass transit systems;
Whereas Colombia is a promising market for auto exports by
United States auto manufacturers, as roads are upgraded and as road systems are
expanded;
Whereas the Colombian Government is replacing 285,000 of
its vehicles because they have an average of 23 years of service, representing
a good opportunity for United States auto manufacturers;
Whereas international flights to and from Colombia have
increased 120 percent since 2000, providing opportunities for United States
airplane and related manufacturers and service providers;
Whereas Colombia is soliciting private interest in laying
a trans-Pacific submarine cable to diversify telecommunications lines with
China and other Asian countries, as Asian trade expands;
Whereas broadband access in Colombia increased 46 percent
in 2009, but access remains low by international standards, presenting
opportunities for U.S. exporters and service providers;
Whereas Colombia currently seeks investment in numerous
large-scale energy projects, among them a $1,500,000,000 sale of the
government's majority stake in Colombia's third-largest power generator and
sale of 2 public-sector generation companies, representing one-third of
installed thermal capacity and 4 percent of hydropower capacity, for a total of
1,500 megawatts; development of a $2,400,000,000 facility that will have
installed capacity of 2,400 megawatts, representing 20 percent of Colombia's
currently installed capacity; and development of an $810,000,000 facility that
will have an installed capacity of 400 megawatts;
Whereas Colombia already has the fifth-largest oil
reserves in Latin America and is conducting extensive exploration, thanks to
significantly increased recent foreign investment, which exceeded
$3,000,000,000 in 2010;
Whereas Colombia has natural gas reserves spread over 18
basins and a network of over 2,000 miles of pipeline, providing United States
service firms opportunities in exploration, drilling, and pipeline
maintenance;
Whereas China has invested over $1,500,000,000 in
Colombia's oil sector since 2006 because China's oil consumption is projected
to double by 2030;
Whereas China also announced this year plans to develop a
railroad to compete with the Panama Canal in moving coal and other energy
products between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and from the Colombian
interior;
Whereas in his State of the Union Address on January 25,
2011, President Obama said, The first step in winning the future is
encouraging American innovation … We'll invest in biomedical research,
information technology, and especially clean energy technology … Now, clean
energy breakthroughs will only translate into clean energy jobs if businesses
know there will be a market for what they're selling …
;
Whereas Colombia is a promising market for clean energy
technology and other green sector exports from the United States, as well as
green sector service providers;
Whereas Colombia ranked fourth in Latin America in total
greenfield investment in clean technologies from 2003 through 2008, exceeding
$1,200,000,000 in investment;
Whereas Colombia maintains blending requirements that
ensure significant domestic Colombian demand for biofuel but produces only
two-thirds of its needed ethanol and biodiesel supply, which provides both
export and investment opportunities for United States firms in the
sector;
Whereas hydropower generates two-thirds of Colombia's
energy, providing major opportunities for United States exports and service
providers in the hydropower sector;
Whereas 6 Colombian states have solar energy potential
ranging from 1,200 to over 2,000 kwh per square meter per year;
Whereas Colombia's wind sector is growing but is dominated
by Spanish exporters, which benefit from a bilateral investment treaty between
Colombia and Spain;
Whereas the International Labor Organization removed
Colombia from its labor watch list in 2010, called Colombia's expanded
collective bargaining rules satisfactory,
recognized all
the measures … adopt[ed] recently to combat … violence against the trade union
movement,
and noted that such violence fell between 2008 and
2009;
Whereas the United Nations cited Colombia's commitment to
achieving human rights goals that the United Nations had recommended and took
note of contributions of the Constitutional Court, Prosecutor General, and the
Ombudsman;
Whereas in response to labor violence improvements, the
President of the United Workers Confederation in Colombia has stated,
Never in the history of Colombia have we achieved something so
important
;
Whereas the overall homicide rate in Colombia is now down
to 32 for every 100,000 people, and the U.S. Department of State reports that,
between 2002 and 2008, homicides in Colombia fell by 44 percent, kidnappings by
88 percent, terrorist attacks by 79 percent, and attacks on the country's
infrastructure by 60 percent;
Whereas homicides against union members in Colombia
continue to decline dramatically, from 196 cases in 2002 to 33 in 2010—a
decline of 83 percent—and the homicide rate for union members in Colombia is
now lower than for the general population;
Whereas Colombian constitutional reform has shortened by
75 percent since 2004 the time it takes to prosecute a homicide case;
Whereas Colombia has established a special program that
provides security for over 10,000 people, with about 25 percent of the
program's $13,000,000 budget in 2010 having been allocated to protecting labor
union leaders;
Whereas Colombia has significantly increased funding for
its Prosecutor General's office, which has a 2011 budget of over $836,000,000,
and added 2,166 professional positions in 2008;
Whereas Colombia is the United States closest ally in
South America;
Whereas the United States investment of over
$8,000,000,000 in aid through Plan Colombia and the follow-on efforts of the
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the United States Agency for International
Development, and other agencies have given Colombia hope in the depths of civil
strife, and in response to which Colombia has more than matched United States
assistance to Colombia, with United States security cooperation funds amounting
to less than 5 percent of the Colombian defense budget in 2010;
Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency's Crime and
Narcotics Center reported that coca cultivation fell 29 percent and cocaine
production 39 percent in 2008 in Colombia;
Whereas Colombia's National Narcotics Directorate raided
and destroyed 36 percent more clandestine drug laboratories in 2008 than in
2007 and interdicted $117,000,000,000 in cocaine from 2002 to May 2009;
Whereas the Drug Enforcement Agency in 2010 reported that
the United States price of cocaine rose over 75 percent, while its purity fell
over 31 percent—demonstrating that efforts in Colombia are making an impact in
the United States;
Whereas Colombia has been training militaries and police
in counternarcotics and counterinsurgency measures in Afghanistan, Mexico,
Haiti, Central America, the Caribbean, Paraguay, and Africa;
Whereas Colombia is Latin America's third-largest provider
of energy products to the United States, behind only Mexico and Venezuela, and
exported over 40 percent of its petroleum production to the United States in
2009;
Whereas according to a March 2010 report by the Department
of Energy's Energy Information Administration, Colombia is the world's
fourth-largest exporter of coal, and the United States depended on Colombia for
80 percent of its coal imports through the first nine months of 2009, though
Colombia began exporting substantial amounts of coal in China in 2009;
Whereas China has quadrupled its share of the Colombian
market in the last ten years to become Colombia's second-largest trading
partner;
Whereas forty-three former Democratic Members of Congress,
Cabinet Officials, Ambassadors, and other senior officials signed a letter in
2007, stating, Latin America is up for grabs. As Democrats, we are
deeply concerned … [P]ostponing [the Trade Agreement] until conditions are
perfect would send an unambiguous signal to our friends and opponents alike
that the United States is an unreliable partner without a vision for
cooperation in our hemisphere. Colombia would certainly re-evaluate its
relationship with the United States …
;
Whereas, on April 15, 2008, former Commerce Secretary (and
current Chief of Staff to the President) Bill Daley and thirty-four other
Democratic Members of Congress, Cabinet Officials, Ambassadors, and other
senior officials signed a letter stating the following: We, the
undersigned, who have served in senior positions in the U.S. government,
strongly urge Congress to take up and approve the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade
Agreement this year. We believe this Agreement is in both our vital national
security and economic interests. We feel that the treaty should be considered
as soon as possible and that any obstacles be quickly and amicably
resolved.
;
Whereas Admiral James Stavridis, currently Supreme Allied
Commander-Europe, speaking in 2008 as then-commander of U.S. Southern Command
said, As your national security advisor in that region, I will tell you
that it is very important that the free trade agreement be passed from a
national security perspective. And, I hear that not just from senior people in
Colombia, but from my interlocutors in the region. They're watching very
closely to see what happens to a nation that stands with the United States for
a decade or more
;
Whereas Generals James Hill, Peter Pace, Charles Wilhelm,
Barry McCaffrey, and George Joulwan, in 2008 as former commanders of the U.S.
Southern Command (1990 to 2004) said, This vital agreement will advance
U.S. interests in Colombia, a strategically located country that is arguably
our closest ally in Latin America … [and] advance U.S. security and economic
interests by forging a deeper partnership
;
Whereas in March 2009, in a response to a question from
Senator Grassley, then Mayor Kirk responded during his confirmation hearings,
… we do agree with you that Colombia provides a great opportunity, and
we will work with you to see if we cannot get that advanced sooner rather than
later
;
Whereas in April 2009, Ambassador Kirk said, We're
looking for new solutions to the issues that have dragged on in existing Free
Trade Agreements. … At the Summit of the Americas, President Obama instructed
me to lead a review of the Colombia agreement to deal with outstanding issues
there
;
Whereas during the State of the Union on January 27, 2010,
President Obama stated that the more products we make and sell to other
countries, the more jobs we support right here in America
;
Whereas, on January 24, 2011, Ambassador Thomas
Mack
McLarty, who served as Chief of Staff to President Clinton,
and Nelson Cunningham, a senior official in President Clinton's Administration,
said, [T]he president should commit to advancing the pending trade
agreements with Colombia and Panama right now, instead of leaving them until
later as some in his administration would prefer. Why bother taking a
half-measure on trade?
;
Whereas, on January 28, 2011, Secretary of State Clinton
said about the Trade Agreement, We want to pass the Agreement. In order
to pass the Agreement, we have to be able to make the case to the Congress, and
that is what I am intent upon doing
;
Whereas after meeting with the Colombian Vice President on
January 28, 2011, Vice President Biden issued a press release, which stated,
Vice President Biden expressed the Administration's commitment to work
closely with the Government of Colombia and other key stakeholders on the
successful conclusion of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Vice President
Biden … underscored the Administration's support for key reforms being pursued
by President Santos and his Administration
;
Whereas, on February 9, 2011, Ambassador Kirk testified at
a House Ways and Means Committee hearing that the President has directed
me to immediately intensify engagement with Colombia and Panama with the
objective of resolving the outstanding issues as soon as possible this year and
bringing those agreements to Congress for consideration immediately
thereafter
;
Whereas, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee on
February 16, 2011, Treasury Secretary Geithner said of the Trade Agreement and
our two other pending trade agreements, We'd like to pass all of them,
alongside trade adjustment assistance, and we want to do it this year … They're
overwhelmingly in our favor economically, and if we don't do it, what that
means is that business just goes to other countries. It just makes no sense as
a country. … [T]he world is watching to see whether we find a way to rebuild a
political consensus in the United States on agreements like these. And our
hand, strategically, in Asia and in emerging markets, will be much stronger if
we can demonstrate, through these agreements, that we've found a way to rebuild
that consensus on trade
;
Whereas, on March 2, 2011, six former U.S. Trade
Representatives, two former Ambassadors at Large to Latin America, and eleven
former Assistant Secretaries of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, a
bipartisan group representing both Republican and Democratic administrations,
stated in a letter to the President and leaders of Congress, The time to
ratify the Colombian and Panamanian FTAs is long overdue. Therefore, we
respectfully urge you to agree on a firm deadline for ratifying the Colombian
and Panamanian Free Trade Agreements within the first half of
2011
;
Whereas Senator Baucus, in a Senate Finance Committee
hearing he chaired on March 9, 2011, with Ambassador Kirk as the sole witness,
said that … the time has passed to ratify the Colombian free trade
agreement. It's long past. I mentioned in my opening remarks, we're losing
market share hand over fist. Hand over fist, we're losing market share … . This
is a no-brainer, Mr. Ambassador, no-brainer, and I just hope we get this passed
quickly
;
Whereas, on March 17, 2011, in testimony before the Trade
Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, Deputy United States Trade
Representative Miriam Sapiro said, The Colombia FTA holds the prospect
of substantial benefits for U.S. workers, businesses, farmers and ranchers. …
The Obama Administration shares the sense of urgency we have heard from many
Members of Congress to advance the Colombia FTA
; and
Whereas in establishing the President's Export Council in
July 2010, President Obama stated, We also want to deepen and broaden
our relations with Panama and Colombia. So we're working to resolve outstanding
issues with the free trade agreements with those key partners, and we're
focused on submitting them as soon as possible for congressional
consideration.
: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives
urges the President to expedite the submission of the United States-Colombia
Trade Promotion Agreement to Congress.