Obama set to sign trade agreements on Friday

Three free-trade agreements passed last week will get President Obama's signature on Friday, a long-awaited conclusion for advocates who argue the accords will create U.S. jobs.  

The House and Senate passed all three agreements — with Colombia, South Korea and Panama — last Wednesday following years of delay, including some tweaking by the Obama administration. 

The White House said the president will "underscore that these trade agreements will significantly boost American exports, support tens of thousands of American jobs and protect labor rights, the environment and intellectual property."

Obama will be joined in the Rose Garden by business and labor leaders as well as workers who will benefit from these bills, according to the White House. 

The South Korea agreement is by far the most economically meaningful of the three pacts, and is the largest approved by Congress since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico during former President Clinton’s first term.

Trade is one area where Republicans and Democrats are in agreement — all three pacts passed easily in the House and Senate, although the deal with Colombia faced the greatest opposition. 

In the House, only 31 Democrats supported the deal with Colombia, while 59 Democrats backed the deal with South Korea and 66 supported the Panama agreement.

House Democrats complained that a labor action plan agreed to by the U.S. and Colombian governments would only be enforceable if it were included in the implementation language. Organized labor and other opponents of the agreements argued that violence against labor activists and leaders is still widespread in the South American nation.