FTA could mean nearly full opening of Korean agricultural market
Hankyoreh | 14 February 2007
FTA could mean nearly full opening of Korean agricultural market
Number of items with reduced tariffs would be highest in history
South Korea’s negotiators on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States reportedly said they would halve the number of agricultural products currently protected from tariff removal from 235 to around 100, sources said.
On the second day of the seventh round of the talks in Washington, Kim Won-kyeong, who heads Seoul’s negotiation coordination team, said, "Among 235 produce items possibly falling under exemption of tariff removal, we proposed a revised list of ‘highly sensitive’ items." Such items include those that, if they fall under the terms of the FTA, might deal a serious blow to the livelihood of local farmers if tariff barriers are lifted altogether. The highly sensitive items list is reportedly contains only about 100 products, suggesting that Korea may again be preparing to yield to U.S. demands to open nearly its entire agricultural market.
South Korea and the U.S. are currently in talks to reduce or remove tariff barriers for a total of 1,531 items in terms of the agriculture field. Among them, Seoul’s negotiators initially suggested that 284 items to be excluded from the tariff removal agreement, but this number was later reduced to 235 in the face of Washington’s opposition.
If the new proposal is accepted, South Korea would open its market more than it ever has in prior free trade deals. With Chile, Singapore, and the EFTA (European Free Trade Association), 413, 484, and 956 items, respectively, were protected from tariff removal.
However, even the trimmed-down list reportedly does not satisfy the U.S. side. Bae Jong-ha, head of the agricultural negotiations sector, said, "We have no clue as to how we will be able to reach an agreement on items upon which both sides hold a sea of differences."
