The following is from the 19 April 2011 edition of The Journal of Commerce.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said the free-trade agreement between the U.S. and Panama is ready to be considered by Congress after Panama took actions sought by the Obama administration.

Kirk sent a letter to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees saying he is ready to begin technical discussions on legislation for the agreement, according to a statement Tuesday.

The U.S. and Panama Tuesday began exchanging tax information, a requirement by the U.S. for advancing the trade deal, the Treasury Department said in a separate statement.

Panama’s Congress last week ratified tax changes that the Obama administration said were necessary before legislators would consider the trade pact. The tax will let both nations exchange information on bank accounts, a step sought by lawmakers such as Senator Carl Levin ( D-Mich.) before taking up the agreement.

Free trade deals between the United States and Panama, Colombia and South Korea have been held up for years in the U.S. Congress, but the outlook for passage has brightened recently.

The White House could send the Colombian trade pact to Congress within weeks, after resolving concerns over the protection of union organizers and other labor issues.

-- Contact Peter T. Leach at [email protected].

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