On October 12, 2011 the United States Congress signed the Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement. It was 5 years in the making, first signed by Deputy U.S. and Colombian Trade Representatives in 2006 and approved by Columbia's Congress in 2007. The agreement went into effect on May 15, 2012. The agreement eliminated duties on 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products into Columbia. An additional 7% of U.S.exports were to receive duty-free treatment within five years of initial implementation.
But in 2010, there were many opponents to the Free Trade Agreement with Columbia (CFTA). Human rights, labor, environmental and faith-based groups all agreed that CFTA would be a bad deal for human rights in Columbia. They sited many reasons including the on-going slaughter of trade unionists, damage to small-scale farmers whose farmers who would have to compete with U.S. products, pushing them into coco production, the raw material for cocaine. Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked hard to lobby for the Columbia free trade agreement and reassured Americans that the state department was working hard to address key concerns about labor rights and violence. She announced that she intended to work with President Obama to send to Congress legislation that would implement the Colombian Free Trade agreement. Ironically, Hillary Clinton who ran against Barack Obama in 2008 had pledged in her campaign to defeat a free-trade agreement with Columbia even though her husband, former President Bill Clinton supports the deal. In 2008, Hillary Clinton spoke at a Washington meeting about the Columbia trade deal, "As I have said for months, I oppose the deal. I have spoken out against the deal, I will vote against the deal, and I will do everything I can to urge the Congress to reject the Colombia Free Trade Agreement."
President Barack Obama used his 2010 state of the Union address to announce new Doha trade agreements with partners like South Korea, Panama, and Columbia. Doha trade negations follow the World Trade Organizations policies to make positive efforts in developing countries and especially the least-developed among them. DOHA trade negotiation policies covered many areas from Agriculture to Textiles and Clothing to Technical barriers to trade. For example, in Agriculture the agreements were meant to support "rural development and food security for developing countries. In 2010, President Barack Obama spoke these words:
"We have to seek new markets aggressively, just as our competitors are. If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores. But realizing those benefits also means enforcing those agreements so our trading partners play by the rules. And that's why we'll continue to shape a Doha trade agreement that opens global markets and why we will strengthen our trade relations in Asia and with key partners like South Korea and Panama and Colombia."But there is a very sad ending to this story. In 2016, the Washington Times reported that Coca cultivation in Columbia more than doubled between 2012 and 2015. Just as many had warned poor farmers were pushed into Coca production feeding the very violent Colombian drug lords.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%E2%80%93Colombia_Free_Trade_Agreement
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/dda_e.htm#development
https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/doha1_e.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-haugaard/the-uscolombia-fta-bad-deal_b_983780.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/09/nation/na-penn9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbrAl13SN70
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/27/in-columbia-purchasing-peace-with-cocaine/
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/president-barack-obama-receives-applause-after-signing-the-colombian-picture-id129891555
http://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20160516&t=2&i=1137434149&w=780&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&sq=&r=LYNXNPEC4F0PV
http://pulitzercenter.org/sites/pulitzercenter.org/files/07-14-13/image_0.jpg
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