South Korea to spend $140 bln for US trade deal
Washington Post
South Korea to spend $140 bln for U.S. trade deal
Reuters
28 June 2007
SEOUL (Reuters) — South Korea will spend more than 130 trillion won ($140.3 billion) through 2013 to compensate for losses to farms and fisheries stemming from a free trade deal with the United States, the government said on Thursday.
South Korean and U.S. trade officials are expected to sign on Saturday a free trade deal they struck in April that studies say could add $20 billion to their more than $70 billion a year trade, despite last-minute changes sought by Washington.
The assistance will in part be used to compensate for 85 percent of losses suffered by farmers when markets open up to U.S. goods and to encourage them to quit farming by paying three years worth of income.
The government will also subsidize work to improve agricultural productivity and encourage switch to higher value crops.
South Korea also said it would spend another 1 trillion won over the next 10 years to support its pharmaceutical sector and billions of dollars more to aid industries that are expected to be hurt by U.S. exports.
U.S. and South Korean negotiators held two rounds of talks in the past week on adding new labor and environment provisions into what would be the biggest U.S. trade deal in 15 years.
The two sides say they hope to complete discussions on the changes in time for the Saturday signing in Washington or, failing that, adopt a separate text that would be approved after the deadline.
They are wary that missing the deadline — when a White House mandate expires to negotiate trade deals that Congress can reject but cannot revise — will invite more changes to the text.
The pact reached after 10 months of negotiations has faced stiff opposition from South Korean farmers fearful of losing heavy import protection and U.S. automakers who fear it would unleash a new wave of Korean cars in their market.
