U.S. lawmakers, industries express discontent with South Korea FTA

Posted on : 2007-04-03 17:29 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

U.S. industries and legislators expressed varying degrees of discontent at the free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, with some senators with their constituency's interests at stake immediately vowing to block the deal.

The White House welcomed it but expected a battle ahead.

"The president was very pleased to notify Congress last night that we had finally, after much wrangling and late-night hours, reached a deal," spokesperson Dana Perino said.

But it's always difficult to pass free trade legislation in Congress, she said. "That's not new."

The FTA, struck in Seoul after 10 months of negotiations, removes many tariff barriers on industrial goods over the next three years. It will be reviewed by industries and the Congress over the next 90 days, after which it will be put to an up-or-down vote.

The deal was announced just minutes before the deadline by which the White House had to notify the Congress under the trade promotion authority, also known as fast-track authority.

The agreement leaves for future negotiations South Korea's full resumption of American beef imports. It excludes rice for the Seoul side but lowers South Korea's tax regime for U.S. automobiles. These three items became the target of congressional attacks.

"The South Korean trade agreement is a bad deal for American workers and American business," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), whose home state includes major automakers.

"I will do everything in my power to defeat this agreement and ensure that any future fast-track authority includes provisions guaranteeing that American businesses and workers can get a fair deal," she said.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) said he also would block the FTA from passing the Senate until the beef issue is resolved.

"This is an entirely unacceptable outcome," he said.

"Both the administration and the Korean government are about to learn just how serious I am about opening Korea's market to U.S. beef as part of this agreement."

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said he has "mixed feelings" about the FTA, disappointed that rice was excluded but happy at the overall deal.

Beef was also a concern for the senator on the finance committee.

"Even more problematic is the absence of an agreement to remove Korea's ban on U.S. beef," he said.

The American Meat Institute welcomed Seoul's decision to work toward restoration of beef trade with the U.S. but demanded that concrete steps follow.

"We will not be satisfied until the Korean market is unconditionally open to U.S. beef," it said.

"And until then, we agree with the Bush administration that it should not submit the free trade agreement for congressional consideration," it said, indicating the meat industry will seek satisfactory guarantees in the process of drafting the final FTA text.

The car industry also expressed discontent at the level of agreed terms.

The Automotive Trade Policy Council said its member companies are waiting for the undisclosed elements of the auto provisions in the FTA.

"However, based on what we know, this agreement does not appear to meet our expectations," it said in a statement.

Negotiators from both countries acknowledged that what they have is not perfect but is still a strong deal bringing mutual benefits.

"They didn't get everything they wanted, but they got a lot of what they wanted and were able to protect certain things they wanted to protect," said Troy Stangarone, director of congressional affairs and trade at the Korea Economic Institute.

The disappointments by industries are to be expected, he told Yonhap, "but I think in the grand scheme of things, these are minor disappointments."

The final results brought relief, but the process in reaching them may foreshadow difficulties ahead, according to Anthony Kim at the Washington-based think bank Heritage Foundation.

The gains for the South Korean side go beyond economic terms, opening possibilities for a better bilateral alliance, he said.

"But this last minute, dragged-out negotiations really added to our concerns that, in a way, we are not showing the momentum," said Kim.

"I wish it could have been a more smooth-ending negotiation," he said.

"It won't be easy at all for the U.S. Congress to have smooth passage of the FTA."
Washington, April 2 (Yonhap News)

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