The U.S. and Colombia have announced a free trade pact today, after weeks of intense negotiations, which includes broader protections for union organizers and officials in Colombia, and could boost U.S. exports to the Latin American nation by $1 billion per year.The deal has bipartisan support in Congress, which must approve the agreement. Republican leaders have said, however, that they won't pass a pending South Korean trade agreement without action on pacts with Colombia and Panama first.The agreement allows 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Colombia to enter the country duty free, with the remaining tariffs being phased out over the next 10 years. More than half of all agricultural exports will also become duty free, with those tariffs being eliminated altogether in 15 years.The pact will require Colombia to criminalize threats against labor unions as well as actions otherwise interfering with workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively.The agreement could put pressure on Panama to make progress on its own free trade agreement with the United States.The deal is a boost to President Obama's stated efforts to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014.
