President George W. Bush paid a special visit to Miami in October, attending a free-trade conference cosponsored by the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Speaking to more than 500 invited guests at the Radisson Hotel, the president outlined his reasons for urging Congress to pass free-trade agreements with Peru, Panama, and Colombia.

“When trade expands, American workers gain,” Bush said. “People around the world want to buy products that say, ‘Made in the U.S.A.’”

Bush noted that while these three countries enjoy duty-free access to American markets, U.S. products shipped there often face stiff tariffs. “Our free-trade agreements would knock down many of these barriers and level the playing field for our businesses and farmers and workers,” he said. “Together, these agreements would expand access to 75 million new customers with a combined GDP of $245 billion.”

The president’s speech followed a one-hour panel discussion on “Trade and Prosperity in the Americas,” in which panelists largely endorsed the pending trade agreements. Susan Kaufman Purcell, a panelist and director of the Center for Hemispheric Policy, an academic think tank on issues critical to the region, called the conference the most important event the center has staged since its founding in 2005.