Representatives of the elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, requested in a meeting with officials of the United States Embassy, renegotiate the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed ten years ago by the two countries.
(Joe Biden officials spoke with delegates from Gustavo Petro.)
“I asked the American government to renegotiate the FTA, since sectors such as clothing, farmers, among others, have not benefited; therefore, it is urgent to renegotiate it,” liberal senator Luis Fernando Velasco, Petro’s representative at that meeting, wrote on his Twitter account. of transition in which the peace agenda was also discussed.
Petro will take office on August 7, replacing President Iván Duque and will be the first left-wing president in the country. On behalf of the US government, several diplomats were at the meeting, headed by the ambassador in charge, Francisco Palmieri.
“We feel that there were elements of the Free Trade Agreement that were not negotiated well, particularly I did not vote for the FTA with the United States and we have seen sectors hit hard,” Velasco told reporters. As an example, he said that the garment sector did better with the ATPDEA (Andean Tariff Preferences and Drug Eradication Law) than with the Free Trade Agreement.
“We have lost some gigantic market opportunities and they (US officials) responded to us in a very open way saying that there is a mechanism to review those problems of the Free Trade Agreement,” Velasco said.
(Diversification, between orders from exporters to Petro).
NAFTA FIGURES
On May 15, when the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the FTA between Colombia and the United States was celebrated, the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Colombia) highlighted that this instrument has allowed increased trade between the two countries.
Breaking down the figures, he recalled that 60% of Colombian exports to the United States in 2021 were non-mining energy products, equivalent to 6,577 million dollars compared to 4,382 million dollars from the energy mining sector. Likewise, 11,497 Colombian products today have zero-tariff access to the United States thanks to the FTA, while ten years ago there were 5,500.
In addition, in the last 10 years, the United States has been the main foreign investor in the country with resources of 22,384.6 million dollars, equivalent to 17.4% of all direct foreign investment that the country has received in this time.
These investments have boosted sectors such as mining, manufacturing, the financial system, professional, scientific and technical services; wholesale trade; information system; electrical products and computers; and electrical equipment and its accessories.
The nearly 450 US companies in Colombia generate around 107,000 direct and indirect jobs.
In addition, about 70% of imports from the United States are goods that are not produced in Colombia and that, for the most part, become part of local production chains to be transformed into products that will be sold in the country or for export. On behalf of the TCL, today there are 101 Colombian agricultural products admitted in the United States.
EFE
