The U.S. Senate Finance Committee agreed Tuesday to renew the pro-labor action plan, and will begin reviewing free trade agreements with Colombia this week.
The committee will now begin mock markups of the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea on Thursday.
Mock markups offer congressional committees and lawmakers an opportunity to offer amendments before sending the bill to Congress.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance program, along with the Generalized System of Preferences and the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act will be attached to Colombia’s FTA, according to U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch.
The Obama administration has been laboring for nine months to resolve Democratic party concerns over the trade agreements and Republican resistance of the TAA.
The agreement is considered an important step towards a U.S. Congress vote on the largest package of free trade agreements since Congress passed trade agreements with Canada and Mexico in 1994.
