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Obama's Panama Opportunity
By Gary Shapiro
President Barack Obama will soon be making
his first trip to Latin America to attend
the Summit of the Americas. This visit is an
important opportunity for the President to
promote core U.S. values of democracy and
freedom. Before his historic trip, President
Obama should lay the foundation of these
principles by signaling that his
Administration will seek quick passage of
pending trade agreements with Panama and
Colombia that have long stalled in Congress
and whose future is uncertain.
Passage of these agreements would
immediately strengthen the relationship with
these important allies and signal positive
U.S. economic engagement in this vital
region.
Our economy needs exports. Over 95 percent
of the world's population lives outside of
the United States. We must look beyond our
borders to increase market access for U.S.
businesses to grow and create American jobs.
The Panama and Colombia free trade
agreements (FTAs) will help level the
playing field for U.S. exports of goods and
services. In fact, today some 5,600 American
businesses export to Panama. Over 4,000 of
these are small or medium-sized companies.
Passage of the Panama agreement will empower
these companies to expand their market
opportunities and in doing so boost U.S.
exports - one of the few bright spots in the
economy. President Obama should call on
Congress to pass the U.S.-Panama FTA without
further and needless delay.
These FTAs would not only eliminate tariffs,
boost U.S. exports and increase economic
engagement, but they also would also
solidify America's presence in Latin
America, a key strategic region.
Too often we forget that this region has
been historically unstable. Today, we battle
for the hearts and minds of the Continent
against Hugo Chavez and his allies. Now more
than ever, the United States must assist our
Latin American friends and pass these
pending trade agreements.
With U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in
office, we should quickly advance the U.S.
trade policy agenda. While labor unions have
slowed action on the Colombian agreement,
there is no reason to delay the Panama FTA.
We face a pivotal decision: Does the United
States promote policies that lead to
domestic job creation, or do we pursue a
protectionist agenda that sets an example of
our Latin American allies that shuns the
economic freedoms we have long sought?
Plus with Panama, we have another strong
reason to move quickly: Panama is soon
accepting bids for Latin America's largest
public works project - a multi-billion
dollar modernization of the Panama Canal.
The Panama FTA gives US companies an equal
shot in this huge project.
The Panama FTA should pass before the
President's trip, but he can and should
signal that he also wants action on the
Colombia FTA.
Given the Congressional move to
protectionism on "Buy American" in the
stimulus package and the treaty violating
restriction on Mexican trucks in to the
United States, President Obama needs
something soon to calm the world that we are
not closing our borders from the world.
Passage of relatively non-controversial FTAs
with our pro-democracy friends in is an
obvious answer.
If President Obama is serious about
promoting our exports, if he is serious
about tackling the ills of our economy, if
he is serious about strengthening our
friendships in Latin America, he must
endorse the pending U.S. free trade
agreements with Panama and Colombia and seek
swift Congressional approval in Congress.
Gary Shapiro is the president and CEO of the
Consumer Electronics Association. |
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