Ex-US official sees S Korea-US FTA as ’wake-up call’ to Japan
Tuesday June 13, 2006
Ex-U.S. official sees S. Korea-U.S. FTA as ’wake-up call’ to Japan
(Kyodo) — A successful conclusion of South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement talks would be a "wake-up call" to Japan and the United States for a similar accord between the two countries, a former senior U.S. trade official said in a recent interview.
"I think that would be a wake-up call to Japanese and American businessmen to say, ’Wait a minute, if the United States and Korea can do that, then maybe there are some things we can do as well, that will be beneficial to the two economies,’" said Alan Wolff, managing partner of Dewey Ballantine LLP’s Washington office.
The United States and South Korea last week launched FTA negotiations aimed at striking a deal by the end of the year.
Wolff, who served as deputy U.S. trade representative in the Carter administration, said if the United States has an FTA with South Korea, a country that has "this level of development and this level of manufacturing capability," it would provide a new dimension to American trade.
"We will be able to serve cars freely in Korea," he said. "That would be a major departure. No one can serve cars freely in Korea currently."
Wolff said an FTA between Japan and the United States would not be easy and far more complicated. At the same time, however, he said the two countries understand each other through two and a half decades of discussions on a range of economic issues.
"Whether it’s an economic partnership agreement or an economic integration agreement, whatever it’s called, I think the time is right to begin serious discussions about how to formalize that process," he said.
While noting agriculture, a politically sensitive sector for Japan, has to be part of a bilateral FTA, Wolff said such an accord should be comprehensive, covering investment and other issues which are broader than purely border measures.
"This is the new horizon for trade negotiations but it’s really economic negotiations and much broader than traditional trade negotiations," he said.
Wolff said whether Japan and the United States will be able to reach an FTA would depend on the "political will" of government leaders of the two countries.
"The only way is to set some deadline and develop a political role to do it," he said.
Wolff warned Japan against being preoccupied with FTAs only with Asian countries and said he thinks it would be a mistake if Tokyo "turns its back" on the United States "to just look toward Asia."
He said the two countries have had one of the most important economic relationships in the world, and that such a change in view by Japan "could lead to some increasing tension down the road."
