Two top Senate Republicans urge President Barack Obama to push the free trade agreement with Colombia through Congress, reports Reuters.
A letter sent to Obama Monday by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Orrin Hatch, urged the president to push through free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.
“We are disappointed … not to see the same level of commitment from your administration for trade agreements with Colombia and Panama” as for the deal with South Korea, wrote the senators.
They went on to say, “Further delay in implementing these agreements risks sending the signal to other countries in Latin America that the United States is not interested in closer economic engagement in the region and is unable to follow through on our commitments to our allies.”
Without giving any timeline, Barack Obama repeated his commitment to furthering a trade agreement with Colombia and Panama Monday in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Opposition to the FTA with Colombia mainly stems from the country’s poor track record on labor rights abuses, in particular the high level of attacks against unionists in the country.
