Peru Free Trade Agreement Passed, Now Must Move on to Columbia and Panama
Cross posted at Conaway Blog
Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement with a vast majority of Republicans supporting the agreement and a minority of the Democratic Party supporting the measure.
This well-negotiated trade agreement between the United States and Peru is a solid win for a vast array of sectors and workers in the U.S., and I am proud to have voted for it. Additionally, this agreement constitutes a great win for Texas and American agriculture. With immediate elimination of duties on nearly 90 percent of current U.S. trade to Peru, this agreement will provide Texas producers and exporters the opportunity not only to preserve, but to increase market share in Peru. Furthermore, with regard to food and import safety, Peru agreed to continue to recognize the equivalence of the U.S. meat inspection and certification system to its own system.
This agreement is about more than money, economics and market access. This agreement is about furthering the relationship between two countries. Peru has long been a friend and supporter of the United States and is currently resisting the efforts of Venezuela’s authoritarian President Hugo Chavez to demagogue misconstrued ideals in Latin America against the United States and personal freedom. Implementation of agreements such as Peru will assist in providing positive and successful alternatives to Chavez’s regime.
Still pending are two other Free Trade Agreements with Columbia and Panama. I would respectfully caution my friends on the other side of the isle in playing politics with these agreements. Not giving these carefully negotiated agreements the broad, bipartisan, and immediate support they deserve would only strengthen the hand of Chavez, and other radical individuals in neighboring Bolivia and Ecuador, while undermining U.S. foreign policy in the region.
The U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement will now be referred to the Senate, which has 60 legislative days from September 27, 2007 to act on it. Under the current Senate calendar, that means Senators could wait until February 2008 to move on the legislation. -Mike
| Posted by Congressman Mike Conaway (TX - 11) (11-09-2007, 12:05 PM) filed under HRPC Member |
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