WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid lingering concerns about ongoing union violence in Colombia, United States ag groups are praising the startup of a new free trade agreement (FTA) they say will add thousands of jobs and increase ag exports by millions of dollars.

U.S. lawmakers approved three new FTAs in October; pacts with South Korea began in March and a deal with Panama is expected to be implemented by October 2012. President Barack Obama signaled the startup of the Colombian FTA earlier this month, after his top administrators said the country took enough steps to improve labor conditions.

The pact, created under former President George W. Bush, eliminates duties on more than 80 percent of U.S. exports to Colombia and about 50 percent on all ag exports. The remaining duties on ag products get phased out over the next five years.

The American Farm Bureau Federation has estimated the deals would add about 22,500 jobs in the United States; the White House puts the figure at about 70,000. The U.S. International Trade Commission has estimated America’s exports to South Korea will increase by some $10.9 billion in the first year of the FTA and exports to Colombia would increase by some $1.1 billion.

Danny Murphy, a Mississippi farmer and officer with the American Soybean Assoc. (ASA), said, “The enactment of the free trade agreement with Colombia next month is a tremendous opportunity for soybean farmers, as it will expand a valuable export market for our products.

“We are making steady progress toward regaining lost market share in Colombia, and this agreement will markedly advance that progress.”

Ron Moore, head of the Illinois Soybean Assoc., touted the importance of job creation. “It’s a great opportunity to stimulate the economy without spending any U.S. tax dollars. Every billion dollars of exports adds about 9,000 jobs to the United States, Moore said.

Tariffs on soybeans and wheat, under the pact, will be eliminated immediately. Colombia already is the second-largest importer of U.S. wheat.

“All three of these pacts are important to wheat farmers, who depend on exports to sell about half of the wheat we grow every year,” said Erik Younggren, a Minnesota wheat farmer and president of the National Assoc. of Wheat Growers. “The implementation of both the U.S.-Colombia and the U.S.-Korea FTAs gives us encouragement that we will soon see the agreement with Panama complete in the very near future.”

Union leaders in the United States, including the National Farmers Union, said they still don’t believe enough changes have been made in Colombia to lessen the violence against union workers there.

In a statement released after Obama’s announcement to implement the pact May 15, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, “Rather than insisting that the Colombian government honor its promises to Colombia’s working class, our government signaled with today’s decision that a little improvement is good enough.

“If a little improvement were good enough, women might still be fighting for the right to vote, and our workplaces would be filled with children. Premature certification of the Labor Action Plan undermines the early signs of progress that have been achieved for Colombian workers – and could prevent further progress.”

According to Colombia’s National Union School, 30 unionists were killed last year, down from the 51 killed in 2010. The FTA requires that Colombia work toward increasing prosecutions in past crimes against trade unionists.

Total exports to Colombia from the United States were approximately $14.1 billion last year, according to the Trade Commission, and are expected to increase by $1.1 billion after the FTA is implemented.

Citing the importance of the FTA with South Korea, ASA representative and South Dakota soybean farmer Paul Casper testified April 17 before a Congressional panel in support of adding Japan to the Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA. Six of the largest 10 importers of U.S. grain are located in the Asia-Pacific.

“Nearly two-thirds of U.S. agricultural exports to Korea are now duty-free, including U.S. soybeans for crushing and U.S. soybean meal,” Casper testified. “Soybean farmers strongly support Japan joining the negotiations.”