WE NEED COLOMBIA TRADE DEAL

Gen. Barry McCaffrey offers an excellent primer on Colombia's recent
economic and political reforms and why the United States must pass the
U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement stalled in Washington (Congress
should OK trade deal, Issues & Ideas, Nov. 25). By promptly passing
the trade agreement, Congress will help cement these reforms and send
the unmistakable signal to other Latin American nations that
Washington takes seriously economic and democratic
liberalization.

The economic reasons for passage are as compelling as the
national-security arguments that McCaffrey outlined. Colombia is
developing into a regional economic power, and it is the
second-largest Latin American market for U.S. agriculture exports.

Between 2001 and 2006, U.S. exports to Colombia grew 86 percent. In
Florida, the impact is immense. Colombia was Florida's fifth-largest
export market for goods in 2006 with exports totaling almost $1.6
billion. As Colombian barriers to our exports fall away with passage
of the trade agreement, this number will continue to rise.

The evidence demonstrates that exports equal jobs. Research conducted
by Business Roundtable shows that in Florida alone almost 1.8 million
jobs -- 18.4 percent of all jobs -- are tied to exports and imports.
As recently as 1992, before a spike in trade agreements, only 10.9
percent of jobs were tied to trade. Nationally, 31 million U.S. jobs
- -- one in five -- are tied to the international marketplace.

The Colombia trade agreement makes sense for our national security and
Florida's economic well-being.

Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn,

Director, International Trade And Fiscal
Policy, Business Roundtable, Washington, D.C.