TRADE AGENDA IMPERILED

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY LEADERS and other business officials are lamenting the demise of the U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement. They say the decision by House Democrats to indefinitely delay consideration of the pact could undermine future efforts by the U.S. to open new markets for American companies that rely on exports for growth. The setback puts in doubt the Bush Administration’s ambitious trade agenda for its final months in office. That agenda includes reaching a successful conclusion to the long-running round of international talks aimed at lowering trade barriers around the world and getting Congress to finalize bilateral free-trade agreements with South Korea and Panama. U.S. corporations have pushed hard for approval of the Colombia deal, which they say would level the playing field for American exports in a fast-growing market. Although most Colombian products already enter the U.S. duty-free under an existing trade preference program, the new pact would eliminate tariffs on more than 80% of U.S. ...