ISDS Case Map
US
"We have no doubt that if 51 CEOs had been murdered in Colombia last year, this deal would be on a very slow track indeed," says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
The United Steelworkers is both disappointed and outraged to learn that the Obama Administration has apparently reached an agreement with Colombia over a free trade agreement.
Largely hailed by Republican lawmakers, the preliminary details of the deal, dubbed an "Action Plan for Labour Rights", were received sceptically by some Democrat representatives, while labour and rights groups noted that they lacked breadth, depth, and accountability measures.
The agreement will remove 90% of current tariffs assessed to Dow's more than $200 million in American manufactured goods exported to Colombia.
The United Steelworkers called news of the amended Colombia pact "devastating" and said they, as well as the AFL-CIO, would continue to oppose the deal.
Colombia and the US may announce a deal as soon as today on measures clearing the way for a stalled free-trade agreement, according to six people familiar with the talks.
The Obama administration has resolved the remaining barriers to a free-trade agreement with Colombia and expects to announce a deal by the end of the week, according to people briefed on the process.
A group of farmers and ranchers from the US’s largest farm organization will be heading to South and Central America to show support for pending free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.
Oberhelman noted that since the FTAs with Mexico, Chile, Central America, the Dominican Republic and Peru went into effect, Caterpillar exports have increased substantially to those regions of the world, with exports up fivefold to Mexico, threefold to Chile and up by more than 60 percent to Peru.
What the United States is seeking on intellectual property in the transpacific trade talks has been leaked. Some of it looks downright sinister.
