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ASA renews call for passage of FTAs

The American Soybean Association (ASA) is renewing its call for immediate action on the pending Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

At the recent Commodity Classic conference, ASA president Alan Kemper urged President Obama to send all three FTAs to Congress as soon as possible.

“These agreements are long overdue,” Kemper says. “Our trading partners are going around us in this effort.  We need to get these passed.”

On Monday, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told Congress that the government is ready to begin technical discussions on a draft bill that would implement the South Korean FTA.  However, many Republicans are pushing for the Colombia and Panama FTA’s to be considered at the same time as the Korean trade pact and have threatened to delay action unless all three FTAs are considered at once.