State of the Union leaves ‘bad taste’: Business leader

The president of Colombia’s National Business Association says U.S. President Barack Obama’s weak support for the pending trade deal with Colombia in his State of the Union address leaves a “bad taste,” Caracol Radio reported Wednesday.

“It leaves me with a bad taste because it continues to put South Korea at the top of its list of priorities in which they are first, Panama second, and Colombia third,” Luis Carlos Villegas told the radio station.

“Well, we are not dying for it, it will push us to diversify,” said Villegas from France, where he is accompanying Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on his European tour.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama told Congress that his administration will “pursue (free trade) agreements with … Colombia” but set no timetable to have the four-year-old pact ratified.

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