Evening star., 1935-10-27
BY GASTON NERVAL.
ABLE dispatches from Bogota
renort tho GiScuSSion in the

)ABLE dispatches from Bogota
report the discussion in the
Colombian Congress of the
recently concluded trade
agreement between that country and
the United States, and predict an
early ratification of the same. This
would carry a step further the present
administrations program Of pan
American commercial reciprocity and
increase the justification for the zeal
and optimism with which Secretary
Hull has devoted himself to it.
The agreement with Colombia, like
those previously signed with Brazil and
Haiti, provides for reciprocal tariff
advantages and is based upon the
principle of unconditional moSt-fa-
vored-nation treatment. Colombia is
an important South American market
for wide variety of United States eX-
ports, and one which has been severely
hit by the world depression. From a
yearly average of $46.000, 900 between
1926 and 1880, Colombian purchases of
United States products had dwindled
in 1882 to a total of only $10.670, 900.
On the other hand, the United States
Is by far the most important country
in the foreign trade of Colombia, TAX
ing about 80 per cent of its total eX-
ports and supplying about As per cent
OF its total imports.
Two Schedules in Agreement.
The trade agreement just concluded
between the two countries consists of
general provisions and two schedules.
Schedule lists the products for which
duty concessions have been granted
by Colombia, and schedule II lists the
concessions granted by the United
States. Among the former, the most
important commodity group is that
comprising machinery, motor vehicles
and electrical equipment, in which
reductions have been made ranging
from 20 to so per cent; in the case of
metals and their manufactures, re-
ductions range from 25 to 81 per cent
of existing duties; reductions from 20
to 10 per cent are also provided for
agricultural commodities. Besides
these reductions, and other secondary
ones on textiles, wearing apparel and
pharmaceutical goods assurance
against tariff increases is extended to
a number of United States products
exported to Colombia. AS for the con-
cessions made by the United States to
Colombia. they consist of assurances
that coffee, Colombia's chief money
crop and chief export product,
emeralds, platinum, bananas and
other maior Colombian products shall
not be subject to duty during the
period the agreement is in force. and
of duty reductions of so per cent on
other minor products.
Articles I and II of the agreement
provide for the threefold ordinary
duty concessions described in the
schedules and safeguard these con-
cesSions by assurance that no other
or higher import taxes or charges of
any kino will be imposed on the prod
uctS to which the concessions apply.
Article III provides for reciprocal
most-favored-nation treatment with
respect to any internal tax or charge;
reciprocal national treatment with
respect to federal internal taxes, ex-
cept the tax imposed on coconut oil
in the United States and the canal
ization tax in Colombia. and prohibits
the increase of federal internal taxes
or charges on the products described
in the schedules.
Article w reserves to both countries
the right to impose anti-dumping du-
ties and such special duties as may be
required by law to be imposed on i'm