10/16/07 Sali supports Columbia FTA

Idaho freshman congressman Bill Sali says a free trade agreement with Columbia makes sense and will benefit America. Sali was one of five lawmakers who made the trip to Bogotá and Medellin. Sali says Columbia sends coffee, sugar, flowers and bananas to the US with out paying tariff. However, it's mostly a one way street because American products face tariffs in Columbia, tariffs that would be eliminated with a free trade agreement. SALI "They need a lot of different products from the US particularly technology, some agricultural products." So why do we need a trade agreement with Columbia when that government could erase the tariffs at any time? SALI "The thing that the US will lose if they do that is the ability to have environment requirements, labor requirements, protection of intellectual property, those kinds of things. We lose the ability to get those if the Congress of Columbia acts on its own." Sali believes that economic growth in Columbia keeps people from entering the cocaine trade and it also helps to prevent Venezuela's Hugo Chavez from gaining more influence over his South American neighbor. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott