Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced, on Wednesday (16/8), that he wanted to renegotiate his country’s free trade agreement with the United States, which is his main export destination.
In a meeting with coffee growers, Colombia’s first left-wing president said the 11-year agreement prohibited Colombia from growing local varieties of corn, instead obliging his country to only grow varieties produced in the US and Canada.
“I would like to announce to the public that the renegotiations have started,” said Petro, to a standing ovation at the meeting in the city of Pitalito, southern Colombia. However, he did not provide further details.
During the 2022 presidential election campaign he won, Petro announced that he wanted to amend his free trade agreement with the US to protect Colombian agriculture from what he described as cheap US imports.
“We import almost all of our corn from the US and Canada. If I were to replace that corn with Colombian corn, I could create 1.2 million jobs. In other words, prosperity,” said Petro.
The opposition has warned that the imposition of new tariffs will prompt the US to respond in kind, which could harm Colombia’s economy.
The bilateral trade agreement signed in 2012 makes the US the main buyer of Colombia’s exports of goods and services, as well as the country’s main investor, according to Colombia’s trade ministry.
Colombia exports oil, coal and other mining products to the US.
Petro came to power in August last year on promises of sweeping social reforms. He met US President Joe Biden at the White House in April. (rd/rs)
