U.S. President Barack Obama, said Monday he wants the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to be ratified by Congress before the end of this year.
"I think we are going to achieve the approval of the trade agreements by the end of the year, I continue being optimistic," the U.S. president told reporters.
The U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement, signed by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and former U.S. President George W. Bush, has been stagnant since 2006, following ongoing concerns about violence against labor rights activists in Colombia.
Following a labor deal with Colombia, in which the Andean nation vowed to improve labor rights and the protection of labor activists, Obama said earlier this year that he would propose the FTA to Congress, but has since then tied the trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to the TAA program that seeks to protect American workers against foreign competition.
In the press talk, Obama said he had enough votes in Congress to be able to approve the three pending free trade agreements.
According to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, he is in talks with Congress about the TAA and trade pacts and said to be "optimistic" the trade pacts will be ratified before Washington hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November.