The Illinois Corn Growers Association has advocated for the passage of the Colombia, Panama, and Korea Free Trade Agreements since before all three were negotiated during the first Bush Administration.  When they were finalized by Congress last month, we knew more good things were to come.

Excitingly, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk remarked yesterday that the U.S. action on the Free Trade Agreements has already yielded positives aside from the economic activity and additional jobs that the U.S. can expect.

The “passage of the FTAs validated Washington's attention to the Asia-Pacific region and “put to bed” the notion somehow the United States was ambivalent about trade” and “spiked interest in the TransPacific Partnership trade initiative - the current US trade project” according to an article in the Washington Trade Daily (http://www.washingtontradedaily.com/)  today.

Despite potential new members, the Obama administration remains determined to finalize the TPP in 2012.