Bush seeks to slash Columbian trade tariffs
The president has a slim chance of winning congressional approval of the pact. It would open markets in Columbia for a wide array of U.S. goods, he says.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush today sent to Congress an agreement that would slash tariffs on trade with Colombia, urging the House and Senate to approve the measure before the end of the year.
Facing steep odds against gaining that approval, Bush presented the measure as providing important economic and security benefits to the United States.
He said it would open markets in Colombia for a wide array of American industrial and farm products, and demonstrate support for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, whom Bush praised as a bulwark in fighting terrorists and insurgents allied with Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.
Failure to approve the measure, Bush said, "would send a signal throughout the region that America cannot be counted on" to support its allies there.
Critics have argued the measure does not do enough to protect workers in Colombia and would threaten U.S. jobs at a time of economic uncertainty.
Both Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York, have already pledged to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico and have expressed their opposition to extending trade accords to Colombia. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, supports the Colombian pact.
Demonstrating the diplomatic, military and economic connotations attached by the administration to the agreement, among the half-dozen Cabinet members invited by Bush to join him as he signed the letter transmitting the pact to Congress were Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Congress has 90 working legislative days in which to vote on it, under the protocol governing congressional consideration of trade agreements.
With the legislative calendar running, Bush urged Congress to act quickly, to avoid risking the clock running out before a vote.
james.gerstenzang@latimes.com
