The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday released a report assessing the impact of the U.S. free trade agreements that were negotiated and went into effect with Singapore, Chile, Jordan and Morocco, “International Trade: Four Free Trade Agreements GAO Reviewed Have Resulted in Commercial Benefits, but Challenges on Labor and Environment Remain.”

While varying in details, the FTAs have all eliminated import taxes, lowered obstacles to U.S. services such as banking, increased protection of U.S. intellectual property rights abroad, and strengthened rules to ensure government fairness and transparency. Overall merchandise trade between the United States and partner countries has substantially grown, with increases ranging from 42 percent to 259 percent. Services trade, foreign direct investment, and U.S. affiliate sales in the largest partners also rose.

The U.S. trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea will also eliminate import taxes, lower obstacles to U.S. services, increase protection for U.S. intellectual property rights abroad and strengthen rules to ensure government fairness and transparency. History, in the form of a GAO report, tells us those changes bring substantial economic benefits.

Oh, but challenges remain!

Challenges always remain. That’s their nature. Members of Congress who always point to remaining challenges do so to support continued inaction. And as the GAO study proves, inaction is bad for the United States. FTAs have accomplished what they were meant to accomplish: improved access for U.S. products, more exports and economic growth for the United States.

The United States is in a recession, free trade agreements stimulate economic growth and jobs, and yet Congress refuses to act on the Panama, Colombia and South Korea. Challenges remain, but here’s one that Congress can speedily overcome: Enact the agreements.

The Wall Street Journal opinion page recognizes the implications of the Tax Foundation’s latest report on corporate tax rates around the world. From “America the Uncompetitive“:

The new international tax rankings are out for 2008, and congratulations to Washington, D.C., are again in order. Our political class has managed to maintain America’s rank with the second highest corporate tax rate in the world at 39.3% (average combined federal and state).

Only Japan is slightly higher overall, though if you are silly enough to base a corporation in California, Iowa, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or other states with high corporate levies, your tax rate on business income is even higher than in Tokyo. For the first time, the U.S. statutory rate is now 50% higher than the average of our international competitors, continuing a long-term trend as the rest of the world keeps reducing corporate tax rates.

The Journal also debunks the populist corporate bashing that accompanied the latest GAO report on corporate tax payments.

Last week Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota waved around a new politically generated study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding that 28% of large U.S. corporations paid no income tax in 2005. “It’s time for big corporations to pay their fair share,” Mr. Dorgan roared.

Well, the Tax Foundation looked at those numbers and found that, among the large companies that paid no taxes, 85% of them also made no profits that year. American Airlines and General Motors escaped income tax for 2005 through the clever tax dodge of losing $862 million and $10.5 billion, respectively. How unpatriotic.

Read the whole thing, if you would.