Colombia

U.S.-COLOMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Colombia were announced as part of the US-Andean FTA negotiations, launched in November of 2003.  Negotiations with Colombia were completed in February of 2006.  On June 14, 2006, President Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe met in Washington, D.C. to discuss the FTA’s outstanding details, primarily the agreed-upon translations of certain agreement sections.  The resolution of these issues cleared the way for the parties to finalize the FTA text and for the Bush Administration to announce its intent to sign the agreement.

On July 8, 2006, the United States and Colombia finalized the text of the agreement, and on August 24, 2006, the Bush Administration formally notified Congress of its intent to sign the agreement. The agreement was subsequently signed on November 22, 2006. It will be submitted to the U.S. Congress for consideration, most likely in early 2007.

Colombia
The Colombian Minister of Trade Industry and Tourism, Luis Plata speaks during the Minister's panel on Services Trade and Investmenat the Global Services Summit.

CSI DOCUMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

October 12, 2011: CSI Welcomes Passage of Free Trade Agreements: Historic Vote Will Open Colombia, Korea, Panama Markets to U.S. Service Providers.

October 3, 2011: CSI welcomes White House's decision to submit to Congress the pending U.S. free trade agreements.

September 23, 2010: Representatives Erik Paulsen and Walt Minnick pen editorial urging passage of FTAs.

Services Drive Growth

The Service Economy

Services represents approximately 75% of US economic output and about 80% of US private sector employment. In 2010, US private services exports exceeded $526 billion, and had a services trade surplus of approximately $168 billion.

Services are essential inputs into the production of virtually all products.  The price and quality of services influence costs and productivity in all other sectors in an economy, including manufacturing and agriculture.  Thus, when liberalized and made more efficient, services have a strong effect in the competitiveness of an entire economy.  For more data and statistics on the service economy, click here.

About CSI

CSI is the leading business organization dedicated to the development of U.S. domestic and international policies that enhance the global competitiveness of the U.S. service sector through bilateral, regional, multilateral, and other trade and investment initiatives.
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