Free Trade Agreement with Canada is Bad News for Colombia

July 15, 2010

Contrary to the euphoria displayed by the government of Uribe Velez over the ratification of the FTA with Canada, a glee that was also parroted by Colombian media outlets owned by foreign multinationals, this Treaty is bad news for the people of Colombia.

It is not true, as the Ministry of Commerce claims, that sales by Colombia to Canada will grow because of access to a large market. Exports to Canada don’t even represent 1% of the national total, and if we haven’t been exporting more it is not because of the lack of an FTA, but rather that the country just doesn’t produce what Canadians are interested in buying.

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