Stabenow said Congress must first pass three bills: an expansion of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program that helps workers displaced by trade; a bill targeting undervalued currencies, notably China's, with punitive tariffs, and legislation strengthening enforcement of existing trade deals.

House Ways & Means chairman Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.) said in August he would make consideration of Peru a top priority after receiving commitments from Peruvian President Alan Garcia that there will be changes in the country's labor and environmental laws.

Importers, who brought in $873 million worth of apparel from Peru for the year ended July 31, receive a duty free advantage when making apparel in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia under a current U.S. trade preference program, but Congress must vote to periodically renew it. The FTA would make the benefits permanent and give U.S. companies reciprocity when exporting to Peru.

There is widespread opposition on Capitol Hill, as well as by organized labor, to the Colombia trade deal because of the assassinations of labor leaders in that country and paramilitary actions.

"Our priorities will be strong opposition to the [South] Korean and Colombian agreements," Thea Lee, policy director of the AFL-CIO, told senators at the hearing last week.

Lee acknowledged that the Peru trade deal "represented significant progress" in labor and environmental standards, but said the union would not "advocate for passage" because it fell short in several areas, such as procurement and the outsourcing of jobs.