Want to create economic opportunity for Americans? Congressman Sam Graves believes one path is legislative passage of trade agreements wth Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

In his weekly newsletter to constituents, the Northwest Missouri lawmaker said government can't create jobs but can "set the table" for economic betterment.

"These trade agreements won't require a tax increase or add to our national deficit," Mr. Graves wrote. "What they will do is create good-paying American jobs in areas like manufacturing and agriculture."

The U.S. Department of Commerce said Missouri exported almost $70 million in good to Columbia in 2007. Missouri exports to Korea that year totaled $1.3 billion, with Panama at $11 million.

Supporters of the trade agreements say importers enjoy a mostly duty-free advantage in shipping goods to the United States, while American goods suffer from tariffs. For example, said the Commerce Department, "about $2 million dollars in taxes are placed on a variety of U.S. exports (each day) sent to the Colombian market, effectively undermining the competitiveness of American products." By comparison, roughly 91 percent of Colombian exports came to the United States without duty in 2007.

Congressional critics of such a trade agreement say countries like Colombia persecute union workers and perpetuate human rights abuses.

With the enactment of trade agreements, American exports increased 49 percent to Chile between 2007 and 2008, 51 percent to Peru and 37 percent to Bahrain, according to Commerce Department figures.

"I believe that American farmers and manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world as long as it's a level playing field," said Mr. Graves, a Tarkio Republican.