STEP FORWARD

Congress Passes Three Trade Deals

Could create as many as 280,000 American jobs.

Ahn Young-joon / AP Photo

Congress on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved three long-stalled free-trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. The pact with South Korea is the biggest U.S. trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 1994 and has the potential to create as many as 280,000 American jobs. Colombia's president hailed the event as an "historic day," while President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak celebrated over dinner in D.C.

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