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Montana Senator Baucus, Montana Farmers, Business Owners Promote Montana Jobs In Meetings With Top Colombian Trade, AG Officials

Senator Pushes Colombia Trade Agreement to Create, Protect Montana Jobs

Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus held meetings in Colombia today with Montana farmers and business owners and the Colombian Ministers of Trade and Agriculture as part of this week’s trade mission to South America. Baucus and the Montanans highlighted the urgent need for the U.S. to approve the Colombian Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and discussed other ways to increase trade and sell more Montana products in Colombia.

"Right now Montana farmers, ranchers and manufacturers are losing business to competitors from countries like Argentina because of the delay in ratifying our trade agreement with Colombia. In just a few months we risk losing the entire wheat market to Canada, and every day we waste, more and more American jobs are threatened. This delay is unacceptable and it’s costing jobs we can’t afford to lose. It’s time to move forward quickly and send the agreement to Congress as soon as possible so Montana producers can sell their goods and services in Colombia and create jobs here at home," Baucus said

While Baucus and several Montanans held meetings with Agriculture Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo and Trade Minister Sergio Diaz-Granados, other Montana business owners continued one-on-one businesses meetings Baucus set up to help Montana companies build partnerships in the growing Colombian market. Representatives from Montana agriculture – Lola Raska of Montana Grain Growers, Kim Murray of Montana Pulse Advisory Council and Nina Zidack of Montana Certified Seed Potatoes – also met with their Colombian counterparts to discuss potential partnerships.

Baucus has been a leader in Senate efforts to pass the Colombia FTA, which will support American jobs by making it easier to sell American products there. The agreement will provide particular benefits to Montana farmers and ranchers by immediately eliminating Colombia’s duties on high-quality Montana beef, wheat and barley. Colombian tariffs currently render Montana malt barley non-competitive and make Montana wheat less competitive than wheat from other countries that have trade agreements with Colombia.

Specifically, Argentina has already implemented an FTA with Colombia that gives its exports an advantage over Montana products. Canada has also passed an FTA with Colombia, set to enter into force in the next few months. If the U.S. still hasn’t approved its agreement when that happens, Montana producers are likely to lose the entire Colombian wheat market. Without a U.S.-Colombia agreement in place, the overall U.S. share of the Colombian wheat market has already dropped from 73 percent in 2008 to 43 percent in 2010.

Lola Raska of Montana Grain Growers highlighted the importance of the FTA last week when the trip was announced.

"Senator Baucus recognizes the value of agriculture as the number one industry in Montana, and South America offers new and expanding markets for our growers. This mission offers a unique opportunity to visit with potential buyers about the unparalleled quality of Montana’s wheat and barley, and I’m excited to be part of the team," said Lola Raska. "It’s absolutely critical for Montana farmers that we get a trade agreement with Colombia in place as soon as possible, and I can’t thank Senator Baucus enough for his leadership on this issue. Wheat is staple of Montana’s economy and the delay of our Colombia FTA is hurting Montana farmers and threatening Montana jobs."

The Colombia FTA would also benefit American manufacturing firms by immediately eliminating duties on 80 percent of exports to Colombia, with the remainder eliminated over time. Colombian businesses can already sell the vast majority of their products in the United States without paying import duties under U.S. trade preference programs. The U.S.-Colombia FTA would level the playing field and give American businesses the same duty-free access to sell their goods in Colombia – including Montana businesses along for this week’s trade mission.

Billings-based Link Communications, for example, currently pays a 5-10 percent duty on the equipment it sells in Colombia. The FTA would eliminate that duty immediately. Lewistown-based Spika Welding, which pays a 15 percent Colombian duty, would see that duty eliminated within five years under the FTA. And CIPP Corp of Helena, which pays a 5-20 percent duty, would see some of those duties eliminated immediately and all eliminated over the next seven years.

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, with sole jurisdiction over international trade, Baucus has repeatedly pressed the White House at every level to submit the FTA to Congress. On Thursday, February 17, Baucus spoke with President Obama and pressed the importance of moving the FTA forward. That same day he questioned http://baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=361 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during a Senate hearing on what is being done to move the FTA.

The week before, Baucus urged United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1005-trade/143965-senators-urge-obama-administration-to-expedite-free-trade-agreements to act quickly on the Colombia FTA and asked him to identify additional steps Colombia should take to address outstanding issues and to provide an expeditious timetable for moving the agreement through Congress.

This week Baucus brought 15 Montana farmers and businesspeople on a trade mission to Colombia and Brazil to highlight the urgent need for the Colombia FTA and promote Montana jobs by selling more Montana products overseas. More information on the Montana participants and the purposes of Baucus’ trade mission is available here http://baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=356 .

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Baucus Meets with Colombian President to Wrap Up Trade Mission Montana Farmers, Business Owners Return from Colombia, Brazil After Series of Meetings with Potential Buyers in South America http://matr.net/article-43692.html

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