Commerce secretary leads congressional delegation to Colombia

Commerce secretary leads congressional delegation to Colombia

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez will lead his fourth congressional delegation to Colombia on Nov. 17-19 to build support for lawmakers to pass the Bush administration free trade deal with the South American country.
   “Colombia is making tremendous progress,” said Gutierrez in a statement. “Violence is down, unemployment is down, inflation is down and investment and opportunity is up.”
   Colombia-U.S. bilateral trade has almost doubled over the past decade, from $9 billion a year in 1996 to about $16 billion in two-way trade in 2006. Most of this trade is the result of the U.S. duty-free treatment of Colombian goods due to trade preference programs, such as the Andean Trade Preferences and Drug Eradication Act and the Generalized System of Preferences, or under zero Most Favored Nations tariffs.
   The Bush administration touts that the U.S.-Colombia free trade deal will “level the playing field” by providing duty-free treatment of U.S. exports to Colombia.
   The congressional delegation includes House lawmakers Ben Chandler, D-Ky.; Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y.; Mike Conaway, R-Texas; Jim Costa, D-Calif.; Wally Herger, R-Calif.; Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio; Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; and John Salazar, D-Colo. From the Senate, Gordon Smith, R-Ore.; and Melvin Watt, D-N.C., will join the delegation.
   The visit will start in Cartagena where the delegation will meet with Colombian President Uribe and his cabinet. They will also meet with labor leaders both in support and opposed to the free trade deal with the United States. The second day will involve a visit to Medellin and a stop at a flower farm.
   According to the Commerce Department, the fresh-cut flower industry in Colombia has emerged as a sustainable alternative to drug crop production. Exports of fresh cut flowers from Colombia to the United States were valued at $450 million in 2006.