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Panama
President Barack Obama will delay sending free-trade agreements to Congress until lawmakers return from an August recess as a dispute with Republicans over a worker-aid program remains unresolved, according to people familiar with the decision.
Long before 2008, when Wall Street’s unchecked greed brought the world’s economy to its knees, we in the middle class could feel our future slipping away. We knew that we were working longer and harder — we could clearly see that even with two salaries, most families had less disposable income than families did in the ’60s and ’70s when one income was the norm.
The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) issued its support this week of the passage of pending free-trade agreements (FTA) with South Korea, Panama and Colombia by two Congressional committees. SOCMA is the US-based trade association representing custom and batch manufacturers, including contract manufacturers of fine chemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates, and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
For over a decade, the labor movement and development advocates have called for fair-trade policy that is part of a more coordinated and coherent national economic strategy. Unfortunately, the Korean, Colombian and Panamanian free-trade deals before Congress do not address the fundamental policy failures of the North American Free Trade Agreement and China's inclusion into "favored nation status," which has led to catastrophic job loss in the U.S. and the explosion of our import/export deficit, now reaching $500 billion annually.
Inking free trade deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia is among the highest priorities for the U.S. business community.
The Obama administration hopes to send all three pending free trade agreements — Colombia, Panama, and Korea — to Congress before the August recess.
Panama will attend the Caribbean Investment Forum in Trinidad and Tobago, to offer Caribbean countries like Barbados, Belize and Jamaica free trade agreements negotiations, according to an official source.
Countering GOP demands for the passage of three seriously-flawed trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) today launched a targeted, informational ad campaign on Facebook.
The White House is threatening to hold up final passage of three coveted free trade agreements unless lawmakers expand retraining assistance for American workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.
The American Farm Bureau Federation supports the proposed US free trade agreements with Korea, Panama and Colombia, while the National Farmers Union is opposed.
