Now more than ever, America’s ability to create or support jobs here at home depends on our ability to export goods and services to the world. Today, exports support over 9 million American jobs. These are well-paying positions; Americans whose jobs depend on goods exports earn 13 to 18% more than the national average.

The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement
U.S. goods exports to Colombia in 2010 reached a record high of $12 billion, representing a 27% increase from 2009. A trade agreement with Colombia will help increase U.S. GDP by an estimated $2.5 billion goods exports by an estimated $1.1 billion.

• Colombia is the third largest market for U.S. exports in Latin America and the 20th largest market for U.S. goods.

• The Colombian government plans to invest $42 billion over the next eight years in urgently needed infrastructure projects, such as roads and airports, presenting opportunities for U.S. exporters.

• The U.S. sold more products to Colombia than to Russia, Spain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand, and the Philippines in 2010. Every U.S. state exports to Colombia.

Close Security Partner and Regional Leader
With strong bipartisan support, Colombia has made historic progress improving security for its citizens and stemming the flow of drugs into the United States. Colombia has also taken an active and prominent role in global and regional institutions, including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). It chairs the UNSC Committee on Iran Sanctions and the Committee on Sudan Sanctions and contributes to multilateral peacekeeping efforts in Haiti, Sierra Leone, and the Sinai.

A Commitment to Human and Labor Rights
President Juan Manuel Santos has addressed many human and labor rights concerns, including the following:

• Passing comprehensive reform laws to restore land rights and provide reparations to victims of violence. The land law is expected to help more than 400,000 families return to their land.

• Creating a Ministry of Labor to give cabinet-level attention to labor inspection programs, gender equality, better salaries and working conditions.

• Engaging human rights activists; increasing protections for human rights activists and labor leaders and condemning threats against them.

• Passing health care reform, and increasing the minimum wage.

U.S. Exports to Colombia: A State Perspective

The United States exported $9.5 billion in merchandise to Colombia in 2009, up from $5.5 billion in 2005. That was a 73 percent increase over the 2005-09 period, well above the 17 percent increase in U.S. exports to the world. Colombia was the 23rd largest market for U.S goods in 2009, out of a total of 232 markets.

Twenty-seven states exported more than $50 million in goods to Colombia in 2009. Sixteen of these states exported goods worth $100 million or more, and two exported merchandise worth more than $2 billion.

Texas and Florida were the top state exporters to Colombia in 2009. Texas recorded merchandise exports of $2.8 billion to Colombia, while Florida recorded shipments of $2.1 billion. Together, these two states accounted for 52 percent of total U.S. goods exported to Colombia in 2009.

Other states that posted significant export totals to Colombia in 2009 were Louisiana ($665 million), California ($329 million), Alabama ($304 million), Illinois ($271 million), Georgia ($265 million), Mississippi ($202 million), Tennessee ($196 million), and North Carolina ($171 million).

Forty-seven of the states increased their merchandise exports to Colombia from 2005 to 2009. Texas recorded the largest dollar increase, boosting shipments to Colombia by $1.4 billion—from $1.4 billion in 2005 to $2.8 billion in 2009. Other states with noteworthy increases in export value to Colombia over the 2005-09 period were Florida (up $803 million), Mississippi (up $185 million), California (up $173 million), and Georgia (up $161 million).

Manufactured goods made up 89 percent of U.S. merchandise exports to Colombia in 2009. Petroleum and coal products were the largest manufactured export category, with $1.2 billion, or 13 percent of total U.S. shipments of merchandise. Other significant manufactured export categories were basic chemicals ($801 million); agricultural and construction machinery ($780 million); computer equipment ($598 million); and other general purpose machinery ($506 million).

The United States also exported significant amounts of unprocessed agricultural commodities to Colombia in 2009. Shipments of unprocessed oilseeds and grains totaled $491 million, accounting for 5 percent of total U.S. exports to Colombia.

In dollar terms, the leading growth category among manufactured exports to Colombia was petroleum and coal products. Export shipments of these products grew $1.0 billion (646%) during the 2005-09 period, from $161 million to $1.2 billion. Other manufactured export categories that registered large dollar growth during this period were agriculture and construction machinery (up $459 million); other general purpose machinery (up $309 million); aerospace products and parts (up $272 million); and computer equipment (up $167 million).

In percentage terms, the fastest-growing categories among U.S. manufactured exports to Colombia were veneer, plywood and engineered wood products; crowns, closures, seals and other packing accessories; petroleum and coal products; beverages; and cement and concrete products. All of these rose by more than 357 percent from 2005 to 2009.

A total of 11,761 U.S. companies exported merchandise to Colombia in 2007 (the latest year for which data are available). Of those, 10,166 (86 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

In 2007, U.S. SMEs exported $2.8 billion in merchandise to Colombia. This represented 35 percent of total U.S. exports to Colombia, well above the 30 percent SME share of U.S. exports to the world.

The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement would provide significant commercial opportunities for U.S. exporters:

Colombia is the 22nd largest market for U.S. aerospace exports.

Estimated duties paid on exports of U.S. aerospace products to Colombia were over $45 million from 2008 to 2010. Tariff elimination could allow U.S. firms to reinvest in technology and production improvements.

Nearly 100 percent of U.S. aerospace exports to Colombia would receive duty-free treatment immediately upon implementation of the U.S.-Colombia