Kristof on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

Nicholas Kristof makes the point that Congress should pass the U.S.-Colombian free trade agreement because, unlike most other trade deals, it will only lower tariffs on American exports to Colombia, and not on Colombian exports to the U.S. This is because tariffs on Colombian exports are already piratically zero, thanks to an older anti-drug trafficking law from the elder Bush administration.

So, the risk to American jobs from this agreement is minimal, since any outsourcing to Colombia has mostly already happened. On the other hand, lowering tariffs on exports to Colombia should help America's trade deficit, since it will make its exports more competitive compared to exports from other states around the world.