This agreement is very important for Colombia because the United States is its first customer. But the Colombian president said on Wednesday August 16 that he wanted to renegotiate it. At stake for the executive: the defense of Colombian farmers.
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“The renegotiation begins! » It was to thunderous applause that Gustavo Petro made this announcement in Pitalito in the south of the country. Facing him, farmers working mainly in coffee farms.
The Colombian president has multiplied the promises: in order to be able to plant local corn and better promote Colombian coffee, he announces the renegotiation of the free trade agreement with the United States in force for eleven years: “ We import almost all of the corn from the United States and Canada. If I wanted to replace this maize with Colombian maize, I would get 1.2 million more jobs, that is, wealth… but right now we can’t do that because the free trade agreement with the United States prohibits it “.
No details
No more details on this renegotiation. What is certain is that Colombian growth is not good, and faced with the stagnation of GDP, Gustavo Petro’s opponents are worried. They believe that the modification of the agreements and new tariffs would involve an American response which could affect the economic “stability” of the country.
The United States mainly imports coal and oil from Colombia – industries criticized by Gustavo Petro during his speech, according to him, too few providers of jobs.
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