Emergency Committee For American Trade

ECAT Welcomes Conclusion of U.S.-Colombia Trade Agreement

News Release For Immediate Release

March 2, 2006 Contact: Emily Watkins 202.659.5147

ECAT WELCOMES CONCLUSION OF U.S.-COLOMBIA TRADE AGREEMENT

Washington, D.C., March 2, 2006: Calman Cohen, President of the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), made the following statement upon the announcement that the United States and Colombia had concluded free trade agreement negotiations:

“ECAT welcomes the conclusion of a trade agreement with Colombia which covers all sectors and subsectors of trade and investment and will provide substantial new market access opportunities for many U.S. consumer and industrial goods, farm products, and services and for U.S. investment. Colombia, like Peru, represents an important economic as well as strategic partner in the region.

“Based on the publicly available information, we understand that the U.S.-Colombia agreement will provide duty-free treatment immediately to over 80 percent of U.S. manufactured goods and immediate increased access for many key farm products, with all U.S. products receiving duty-free access when the agreement is fully implemented. On services, Colombia agreed to substantial openings in key sectors of interest, including financial and information technology services. ECAT welcomes the comprehensive coverage of the market access provisions of the agreement, but would have liked to see an even more robust and commercially meaningful outcome with respect to certain products, such as textiles and apparel and sugar.

“On key rules, Colombia agreed to strong rules on investment access and investment protections, non-discriminatory access to government procurements and high levels of transparency.

“We look forward to reviewing closely the details of the agreement in all key areas, especially those of particular importance to ECAT member companies.

“ECAT applauds U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Everett Eissenstat and the entire U.S. government negotiating team for concluding this agreement.”

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Founded in 1967, ECAT is an organization of the heads of leading U.S. international business enterprises representing all major sectors of the American economy. Their annual worldwide sales total $2 trillion and they employ approximately five and one-half million persons. ECAT’s purpose is to promote economic growth through the expansion of international trade and investment.

Attached Document(s): 03-02-06 ECAT Release on Colombia FTA.pdf