US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

The United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) (Spanish: Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Colombia y Estados Unidos or TLC) is a bilateral free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia. Sometimes called the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, it was signed on November 22, 2006, by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau and Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry, and Tourism Jorge Humberto Botero. CTPA is a comprehensive agreement that will eliminate tariffs and other barriers to trade in goods and services between the United States and Colombia.

Colombia's Congress approved the agreement and a protocol of amendment in 2007. Colombia's Constitutional Court completed its review in July 2008, and concluded that the Agreement conforms to Colombia's Constitution. President Obama tasked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative with seeking a path to address outstanding issues surrounding the Colombia FTA. The United States Congress then took on the agreement and passed it on October 12, 2011. The agreement went into effect on May 15, 2012.

The United States is Colombia’s leading trading partner. In 2005, 39% of Colombia’s exports went to the United States, and 29% of Colombia’s imports were supplied by the United States. The second most significant trading partner for Colombia is Venezuela, accounting for 7% of Colombia’s imports and 10% of Colombia’s exports. Other significant trading partners for Colombia are Mexico, Ecuador, Germany, and Brazil.

Colombia is the 28th largest U.S. export market ($5.41 billion in 2005) and the 31st largest source of U.S. imports ($8.85 billion in 2005). The dominant U.S. import item from Colombia is crude oil (38% of U.S. imports from Colombia in 2005), followed by coal, other petroleum oils, precious and semi-precious stones, coffee, tea, and flowers and plants.

Two-thirds of U.S. exports to Colombia are manufactured goods. The top U.S. exports are chemicals, plastics, electrical equipment, excavating machinery, telecommunications equipment, computers and computer accessories, industrial engines, and drilling and oilfield equipment. For the last seven years, Colombia has been receiving $10 billion to $15 billion annually in foreign direct investment, and has been rapidly developing its mining sector. As a result, Colombia is the sixth-largest market in the world for large earthmoving equipment manufactured by Caterpillar Inc., a U.S. manufacturer of bulldozers and other earthmoving machinery, despite a Colombian tariff of five to fifteen percent.

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