WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US administration still needs to resolve "serious issues" with Panama and Colombia before submitting free-trade pacts with those two countries to Congress for ratification, Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Wednesday.Kirk, appearing before the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, offered no specific timetable for submitting the trade deals, which were negotiated by the administration of president George W. Bush."There remain serious issues to be resolved before the Colombia and Panama agreements can be submitted for congressional consideration," he said."Some of these issues go to core US values and interests, such as the protection of labor rights. Any timetable will be contingent on the successful resolution of these issues."Colombian ambassador Gabriel Silva said the argument was outdated. "Sometimes it is easier to put forth old arguments based on Colombia's past; Colombia today is a different nation," Silva said in a statement.Republicans, who have controlled the House since January, have called for ratification of these two deals by July along with a trade pact with South Korea, which was renegotiated by the Obama administration in December and now has White House backing.But some Democratic lawmakers have raised objections to the trade deals with Colombia and Panama -- two of the closest US allies in Latin America -- out of concern over the lack of human rights and labor protections in those countries.Democratic Representative Sander Levin said "union worker violence in Colombia remains unacceptably high, if not the highest in the world" and added "limited progress is being made in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for union murders."Levin said "the burden is on the Colombian government to act and address concerns that have been made abundantly clear to them for years."According to Human Rights Watch, Colombia is the worst country for killings of union activists, with 47 deaths in 2009 and 36 in the first nine months of 2010.Representative Jim McDermott, the ranking Democrat on the panel, said he has similar concerns about Colombia and additional worries "about Panama?s status as a tax haven."McDermott said it was positive that "this administration is actively working to address those complex issues."Republican Representative Dave Camp, who chairs the committee, said he hopes the two deals can be ratified by July 1."Unfortunately, it seems we need to keep reminding the administration that we have three pending trade agreements, not just one," Camp said. "What we need is action, concrete steps on how we are going to conclude this."Camp said the three trade pacts "have the potential to add over $10 billion to our economy and will help to reinforce critical strategic partnerships."He added that "the administration's absence from the Latin American region is both troubling and mystifying. Some of our greatest trade policy successes have occurred right here in our hemisphere."In an exchange during the hearing, Camp said the administration should set "benchmarks" for the Latin American nations."The time for generalities is passed," Camp said. "To say we need to continue to work forward on these, we really need specifics... and we need an action plan of benchmarks that we can meet to move this forward."Kirk noted that while "it is important to open markets," it is also critical "to protect labor rights."Separately, senior US Republican Senator John McCain pressed for action on the Latin American trade deals."Our agreements with Colombia and Panama should have been passed yesterday, without changes, and I certainly do not think we need to resolve any 'outstanding issues' to pass them later this year," McCain said in a speech at the Council of the Americas in Washington."No trade policy can be serious and complete without a specific plan to move our FTAs with Colombia and Panama."Backers of the trade agreements argue that the deals would be beneficial to US producers and exporters.They point out that 90 percent of Colombian exports to the US are tariff-free already under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. Colombia exported some $14.2 billion of goods to the US in the first 11 months of 2010 and imported $10.9 billion in US goods.Panama's exports to the United States for the same period were $350 million, and its imports were $5.3 billion. Blue Rinse .Shoombadooba .For What It's Worth (remixes) .Download Bahia Latina .Give My Heart
US not ready to submit Panama, Colombia trade pacts
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US administration still needs to resolve "serious issues" with Panama and Colombia before submitting free-trade pacts with those two countries to Congress for ratification, Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Wednesday.Kirk, appearing before the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, offered no specific timetable for submitting the trade deals, which were negotiated by the administration of president George W. Bush."There remain serious issues to be resolved before the Colombia and Panama agreements can be submitted for congressional consideration," he said."Some of these issues go to core US values and interests, such as the protection of labor rights. Any timetable will be contingent on the successful resolution of these issues."Colombian ambassador Gabriel Silva said the argument was outdated. "Sometimes it is easier to put forth old arguments based on Colombia's past; Colombia today is a different nation," Silva said in a statement.Republicans, who have controlled the House since January, have called for ratification of these two deals by July along with a trade pact with South Korea, which was renegotiated by the Obama administration in December and now has White House backing.But some Democratic lawmakers have raised objections to the trade deals with Colombia and Panama -- two of the closest US allies in Latin America -- out of concern over the lack of human rights and labor protections in those countries.Democratic Representative Sander Levin said "union worker violence in Colombia remains unacceptably high, if not the highest in the world" and added "limited progress is being made in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for union murders."Levin said "the burden is on the Colombian government to act and address concerns that have been made abundantly clear to them for years."According to Human Rights Watch, Colombia is the worst country for killings of union activists, with 47 deaths in 2009 and 36 in the first nine months of 2010.Representative Jim McDermott, the ranking Democrat on the panel, said he has similar concerns about Colombia and additional worries "about Panama?s status as a tax haven."McDermott said it was positive that "this administration is actively working to address those complex issues."Republican Representative Dave Camp, who chairs the committee, said he hopes the two deals can be ratified by July 1."Unfortunately, it seems we need to keep reminding the administration that we have three pending trade agreements, not just one," Camp said. "What we need is action, concrete steps on how we are going to conclude this."Camp said the three trade pacts "have the potential to add over $10 billion to our economy and will help to reinforce critical strategic partnerships."He added that "the administration's absence from the Latin American region is both troubling and mystifying. Some of our greatest trade policy successes have occurred right here in our hemisphere."In an exchange during the hearing, Camp said the administration should set "benchmarks" for the Latin American nations."The time for generalities is passed," Camp said. "To say we need to continue to work forward on these, we really need specifics... and we need an action plan of benchmarks that we can meet to move this forward."Kirk noted that while "it is important to open markets," it is also critical "to protect labor rights."Separately, senior US Republican Senator John McCain pressed for action on the Latin American trade deals."Our agreements with Colombia and Panama should have been passed yesterday, without changes, and I certainly do not think we need to resolve any 'outstanding issues' to pass them later this year," McCain said in a speech at the Council of the Americas in Washington."No trade policy can be serious and complete without a specific plan to move our FTAs with Colombia and Panama."Backers of the trade agreements argue that the deals would be beneficial to US producers and exporters.They point out that 90 percent of Colombian exports to the US are tariff-free already under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. Colombia exported some $14.2 billion of goods to the US in the first 11 months of 2010 and imported $10.9 billion in US goods.Panama's exports to the United States for the same period were $350 million, and its imports were $5.3 billion. Blue Rinse .Shoombadooba .For What It's Worth (remixes) .Download Bahia Latina .Give My Heart