FTA with the United States: The good and the bad for Colombian agriculture

“Today we import almost all the corn from the United States and Canada (...) If I wanted to replace that with Colombian corn planted, I would have 1.2 million more jobs, that is, wealth. But I can't do that because the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) prohibits it”, were the words of President Gustavo Petro when he announced his intention to renegotiate the trade agreement with the US. And it is that the high imports of corn —in 2022 6.5 million tons were purchased abroad, 45% of these from the US— have had a negative impact both on the planting area and on the competitiveness of the subsector. For this reason, the National Federation of Cereal, Legume and Soybean Growers (Fenalce) expressed their support for President Petro, since they believe that the peasant economy should be strengthened, especially food such as corn. "We reiterate our commitment to provide all the information, knowledge and expertise necessary to correct the imbalances that arose in the initial FTA negotiation," ...