(Adds background, details)
CARTAGENA, Colombia, April 15 (Reuters) – The U.S.-Colombia
free trade agreement will enter into force next month, reducing
duties on American exports entering the South American country,
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on Sunday.
The announcement came during the Summit of the Americas in
Colombia, where President Barack Obama has been meeting regional
political and business leaders including Colombian President
Juan Manuel Santos to push for greater access for U.S. exports.
Kirk told reporters in Colombia the free trade deal that
Obama signed in October would be implemented on May 15 – much
earlier than most had expected.
“We believe this is a very historic step,” Kirk said.
Colombia’s weak labor record, including murders and attacks
that were not investigated, held up the free trade pact for
years. Some U.S. unions had opposed the deal – which was largely
negotiated under former President George W. Bush – on the
grounds that Colombia lacked the capacity to enforce worker
protections.
In a Labor Action Plan signed a year ago, as a step toward
the trade deal, Colombia promised safeguards that labor
activists have demanded for years, including full-time police to
investigate crimes involving unions.
The decision to implement the trade deal in May reflects a
U.S. assessment that Colombia’s labor concerns have been
appropriately tackled, and an agreement between Obama and Santos
that other preparatory steps have been taken by both Bogota and
Washington.
Colombia already has duty-free access to the United States
for most goods under longtime U.S. trade preference programs.
When implemented, the deal will eliminate most of the duties
Colombia now imposes on American farming and manufactured goods.
(Reporting By Laura MacInnis; Editing by Eric Beech and Sandra
Maler)
