Department of Commerce’s Under Secretary for International Trade Chris Padilla stopped by the Conservative Blogger’s Briefing today to promote TradeAgreements.gov and all the resources there including the Colombia tariff tracker posted above.
Padilla also brought along a grocery bag full of products to illustrate how American workers would benefit from the passage of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement currently before Congress. The coffee, flowers, onion, and banana in Padilla’s bag all can enter the U.S. tariff free. But currently the Pepsi, fertilizer, and Pennsylvania apple from the bag all face tariffs ranging from 10 – 20% when entering Colombia. By passing the Colombia FTA, Congress can completely eliminate those tariffs. In exchange, Colombia gets a permanent free trade access to U.S. markets instead of the annual approval they must go to Congress of every year now.
It has been 588 days since the U.S. signed the trade agreement with Colombia, and the U.S. House of Representatives still refuses to hold a vote. In fact, they haven’t even afforded our Colombian allies a single hearing on the issue. No wonder American Leadership on free trade is dead.
