By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTUntil the U.S. Congress resumes from its August vacation, no one knows if and when the United States will sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia. A nation to which the United States is its No. 1 trade partner, Colombia is the third largest economy in Central and South America. Trade with the United States represents about 41 percent of Colombia’s exports and 27 percent of its imports. For the United States, Colombia is the United States’ third-largest export market in Latin America behind Mexico and Brazil. Major U.S. exports to Colombia include machinery/equipment, grains, chemicals, transportation equipment, mineral products, consumer products, paper products, and oil and gas industry equipment. Despite the FTA, the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, based on DANE figures, reports that Colombian exports to the United States totaled US$16.917 million during 2010. Of this amount, the 24,3 per cent was represented by nontraditional products. Precious stones was one of the main products exported ($1.442 million), followed by flowers (US$941.8 million), and clothing ($238.3 million). Other main exports were petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, and bananas. U.S. government figures indicate that that same year, U.S. exports to Colombia were $12.1 billion, up 26 percent from the previous year. Indicators last spring pointed to President Obama signing the agreement this September. But a weakened U.S. economy and Congressional obsession and debate over the debt ceiling pushed the FTA to the sidelines. Colombia-Canada FTA Meanwhile, a similar FTA agreement between Canada and Colombia went into full effect August 15. That FTA means lower barriers to trade and expanded opportunities for Canadian exporters and investors in a broad range of sectors, including industrial and agricultural products, benefits the United States would also obtain by an FTA. “With Canada, there will be positive impacts in the sectors of sugar, processed rice and other cereals, textiles, vegetable oils and fats, and apparel and garments, among others,” says an official with ProExport, a Colombia-based trade organization. “In terms of investment, this allows Canadian companies to offer very attractive conditions, in addition to what is already offered by the Colombian economy.” Leaders at the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) warn that the Canada-Colombia FTA could give Canadian wheat producers a decided advantage over U.S. farmers in Colombia, since the FTA makes Canadian wheat significantly cheaper than that from the United States. That’s because Canada’s bilateral FTA allows Canadian wheat to enter that country duty free. This currently is not the case with U.S. produced wheat. “The agreement gives a major wheat-producing competitor an immediate price advantage in a market where U.S. wheat exports had earned a dominant market share,” said USW and NAWG in a joint statement. Argentine wheat growers also enjoy trade preferences under the Mercosur agreement, which also gives them an advantage over U.S. wheat producers. “U.S. wheat producers need this FTA to compete in the Colombian market on the basis on quality and supply with wheat from other countries,” wrote the current NAWG President Wayne Hurst, a wheat grower from Burley, Idaho, and USW Chairman Don Schieber, a wheat grower from Ponca City, OK. It is expected that with the FTA, Canadians will embark on new investments in strategic sectors of high added value, especially in the sectors of telecommunications, financial services, and mining,” says ProExport. The positive impacts of the FTA with the United States are expected in all the sectors of Colombian economy, especially of clothing and textiles, leathers, construction materials and the food industry. Commodity Shipments Compromised But without the FTA, U.S. agricultural products are subject to tariffs ranging from 5 to 20 percent, making it expen