Free Trade Agreement with the United States amounts to 127 billion US dollars in ten years | Finance | Economie

The Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the United States It celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2022 in the midst of a global context that could give it a boost to the “new phase” in which bilateral relations are entering.

(Read: Suggestion to avoid a future fuel fund deficit.)

According to figures from the National Administrative Statistics Service (Dane) and provided by the Amcham Colombia, bilateral trade has reached from 2012 to 2021, under the FTA, 127,183 million USDEnergy and mining exports amounted to $74,266 million, or 58.4% of the total. Meanwhile, overseas sales of non-miners were $52.917 million, or 41.6% of the share.

As for the products that have been marketed the most, data from the Chamber of Commerce shows that energy and mining products are in the lead, although declining.

Now, in relation to the other category, between 2012 and 2021 foreign sales of flowers grew by 40.4% to 10,960,856 Million USD; Coffee and its derivatives increased 63.2% to $10,517,266 million and apparel increased 31.2% to $2,510,986.

In this period, only fruit stands out as the only category to drop, specifically, by 11.9% and add a total of $1,943,796 million.

towards repower

In an interview with Portafolio, Maria Claudia Lacouture, Director of Amcham Colombia, stated that the conversation should focus on “how to take advantage” of the terms of the trade agreement to strengthen trade relations between the two allies.

To do so, he mentioned that there are opportunities in more Partnership between the public and private sector, Productivity, competitiveness, phytosanitary access and corporate relocation (approximation).

That vision was what was reflected on the first day of the Bicentennial Summit, an event held by the commercial entity to make an x-ray picture of the current state of the bilateral relationship and how it could be re-strengthened.

On the issue of approaching, which has been circulating in public opinion more frequently in the past two years at least, Juan Gonzalez, director of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the White House National Security Council, emphasized that the region “must join forces” to seize the moment and “action.” towards a full economic integrationwhich “was one of the region’s historical weaknesses”.

(Also: 46.7% of Colombian families are considered poor.)

A new stage in relationships

Another point discussed during the discussion was the future of binational relations between Colombia and the United States and how they could be re-strengthened.
Those who attended the event agreed that relations are now in a new phase after that Joe Biden The assertion of Colombia as a “strategic non-NATO ally,” meaning that the country enjoys a privileged position among a select group of non-NATO partners.

“We have so much in common that we need each other so much (…) Colombia is an allied and willing country, which is why we have the common agenda for the region: migration, climate agenda, among others‘,” said the US ambassador to Colombia, Philip Goldberg.

One such opportunity is the US-Columbia Strategic Alliance 2022 bill, which the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Senator Robert Menendez, and his colleague Tim Kaine introduced to the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

In addition, there is a “Build Back Better World” (B3W) initiative led by President Joe Biden as a mechanism to invest more than $40 trillion in projects around the world while supporting the private sector and focusing on areas such as climate change. , health, digital technology, gender equality, among others; According to attendance.

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