Unfortunately, however, not for us, but for our competition.

Today’s EU Trade News – weekly digest contained the following headline story about initialing the European Union’s free trade agreement with Colombia:

Trade agreement between the EU and Colombia & Peru
Chief negotiators of the European Commission, Peru and Colombia met in Brussels on 23 and 24 March to initial the final texts of an ambitious trade deal. The Free Trade Agreement will inaugurate a new framework of bilateral trade and investment relations between the European Union and these Andean countries. The initialing will be followed by translation, signature and adoption of this agreement so that it can enter into force as soon as possible for all parties

When the EU agreement goes into effect, European manufacturers will see their products’ prices fall 15 percent in the Colombian market compared to U.S. products.  If you walked into a store and saw two comparable products side-by-side with the major difference being one was 15 percent less expensive than the other, what would you do?  And that’s just what Colombian customers will do as well.

In the meantime, as another month passes as we move from March to April, organized labor’s mistaken opposition to the Colombian trade agreement has taken another $46 million of lost wages and benefits out of the pockets of American workers.¹

Frank Vargo is vice president, international economic affairs, for the National Association of Manufacturers.

¹The International Trade Commission estimates the Colombian agreement would generate at least $1.1 billion in new U.S. exports annually. The Commerce Department estimates that each $1 billion of exports supports about 6,700 U.S. jobs, so $1.1 billion of exports supports 7,370 jobs. Most of these jobs would be in manufacturing, where the average employee earns $75,500 annually. That works out to $550 million dollars in lost wages and benefits per year — $46 million per month.

U.S Trade Representative Ron Kirk appeared before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday to formally present the President’s 2010 Trade Policy Agenda, and as expected, express support for passage of the three long-pending free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Korea and Panama were high on the agenda for Senators.

“The FTA’s are a priority,” Kirk told the lawmakers. “We have not given up on any of those.” (Kirk’s statement.)

The ambassador was challenged by both Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley, who warned him that the United States will lose out to our competitors in Europe and other nations if we don’t advance the pending FTAs with Colombia, Korea and Panama. The goal of doubling exports in five years will be strongly aided by passing these pending FTAs, Kirk heard more than once.

As far as that competition from Europe and other countries, the European Union is certainly not letting any grass grow under its feet. On Tuesday, the EU announced the start of FTA negotiations with Vietnam. On Wednesday, the EU announced the start of FTA negotiations with Singapore. And, of course, the EU is looking to enact its FTA with Korea in the next few months.

The U.S. has an FTA with Singapore, and Vietnam would be included in the Obama Administration’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) FTA –- the first round of negotiations for the TPP begins in mid-March.

This news all comes on the heels of the announcement by the EU Tuesday that it has concluded its FTA negotiations with Colombia and Peru, and is looking to a May 2010 signing with entry into force by 2012.

Colombia is also nearly finished negotiating an FTA with Canada.

Canada, by the way, is negotiating an FTA with the European Union. And, of course, Canada and Korea are negotiating an FTA too.

There seems to be a trend here: Strong manufacturing countries, whose industries compete with manufacturing in America for exports to these markets, are all fiercely pursuing trade deals with the same group of nations. If past trends continue, once they conclude negotiations, Europe and Canada will move quickly to enact these agreements. So will Peru, Colombia, and Korea. (continue reading…)

From Reuters, “US should consider trade pact with EU-manufacturers“:

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) – A proposed trade deal between Canada and the European Union puts pressure on the United States to begin thinking about its own trade pact with Europe, U.S. manufacturers said on Tuesday.

“The EU already has a free trade agreement with Mexico. Now they’re negotiating one with Canada and that leaves us out,” Frank Vargo, vice president for international economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, told reporters.

Very timely observations.

From the Vancouver Sun, “Canada, European Union to begin free trade talks”

Confirmed by the Senate Wednesday and meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton on Thursday. Congratulations on the alacrity! (And good job on the Administration’s part in getting Ambassador Kirk sworn in and receiving his commission from the Secretary of State’s office all within a day.)

The U.S. Trade Representative and Commissioner Ashton issued a joint statement.

UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
www.ustr.gov Washington, D.C. 20508 202-395-3230
For Immediate Release: Contact: Debbie Mesloh
March 19, 2009 (202) 395-3230
Statement of U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and
EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton
WASHINGTON, D.C – U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton issued the following statement at the conclusion of their March 19 meeting:
“The European Union and the United States are partners in the world’s largest trade relationship. Every day, nearly $2.7 billion in manufactured goods, agricultural products and services originating on one side of the Atlantic are delivered on the other side. U.S. and European companies have invested more than $1 trillion in each other’s economies, supporting millions of jobs. These enormous flows of trade and investment have played a critical role in promoting U.S. and European prosperity, and the markets, growth, and technological advances that transatlantic trade and investment have helped promote have in turn helped promote economic development throughout the world.
“We met today at an extremely difficult time for the global economy, a time that is testing the resilience of the rules-based multilateral trading system that has played such a critical role in building the global economy. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary leadership, and we have committed ourselves today to intensify our efforts to ensure that our bilateral trade relations and our cooperation on multilateral issues of common interest make the strongest possible contribution to global economic recovery. (continue reading…)