First on South Korea, now on Colombia, President Obama has been working assiduously to make trade agreements palatable to skeptics within his own party. By negotiating an “action plan” with Colombia on labor rights, he has removed any reasonable pretext for opposing a pact that has languished in Congress for five years.
It’s not clear, however, whether the anti-trade coalition of organized labor and Congressional liberals will take “yes” for an answer. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), ranking Democrat on the powerful House Rules Committee, vowed Wednesday to continue blocking the treaty. The pact, negotiated by the Bush administration, “turns a blind eye to rampant human rights violations and anti-labor practices of Colombia, where merely joining a union or advocating for workers rights can be a death sentence,” she said.
In fact, anti-union violence in Colombia has waned in recent years and there’s little evidence that the national government is implicated in it. Nonetheless, to allay Congressional criticism, Colombia pledges more vigorous action to protect union leaders as well as legal reforms to strengthen unions. Obama meets today at the White House with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to formalize the plan.
The free trade deal would lower Colombia’s high tariffs on U.S. agricultural and manufactured goods. The International Trade Commission estimates the U.S. exports to Colombia would increase by $1 billion if the treaty is approved (Colombia’s GDP in 2010 was $283 billion, and has been growing solidly for years). As Washington struggles to cut trillion-dollar deficits, that may not seem like much. But boosting U.S. exports – Obama has pledged to double them – is integral to bringing unemployment rates down.
While Washington has dithered, other countries have rushed into the breach. Colombia has been signing trade agreements with countries in Europe and Asia, and China is now its second-largest trading partner. It’s a vivid illustration of how U.S. policymakers’ inability to forge consensus on opening foreign markets is undermining our global competitiveness.
The political case for the free trade pact is even stronger. Colombia is one of America’s closest partners in South America. In a region rife with populist demagogues – the loudest being Venezuela’s virulently anti-American Hugo Chavez – Colombia stands out for its steady march in a liberal democratic direction.
And for its resilience. Nearly engulfed by drug cartels and narco-terrorism in the 1990s, Colombia, with America’s help, managed to defeat them while also strengthening the rule of law. The United States invested $8 billion over a decade in Plan Colombia, which now offers Mexico a model for its struggle against hyper-violent drug gangs that have overwhelmed civil authorities and killed over 30,000 people in recent years.
Congress’s refusal to approve the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement is no way to treat a friend. It also puts the parochial interests of organized labor over the nation’s interest in opening markets to U.S. exports. The moderate House New Democrat Coalition has endorsed Obama’s efforts to smooth the way toward passage of the pact. It’s time for liberals to stop making excuses and let the deal get done.
