Camp wants Obama to lay out trade deal timetable in State of Union

He said that Panama’s National Assembly is considering important labor law changes now and that during a fact-finding trip this month to Colombia, he saw improvements in the human rights climate there.

Panama cleared a major hurdle to having its deal considered when it agreed to a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the U.S. in November, he said.

In Colombia, “there seemed to be wide agreement that the new Colombian government was expressing a different approach than its predecessor” on issues like anti-union violence, he said.

“I believe there is now an opportunity for the two governments to work together mutually to achieve real progress on the ground,” he said.

Levin used his opening statement to press for movement on a bill that would allow the U.S. to slap countervailing duties on Chinese products due to China’s undervalued currency.

The bill passed the House last year with strong bipartisan support, and Democrats may try to tie consideration of the pending free trade agreements to action on the China bill this year.