FTA faces fierce pressure US Congress
The Hankyoreh | Seoul | 5 June 2005
FTA faces fierce pressure U.S. Congress
Washington reportedly will not budge on several points
U.S. Congress has strengthened pressure on negotiators to take a hard-line stance in the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) talks. The two sides are holding negotiations in Washington and Geneva, Switzerland, for five days beginning May 5, and it remains unclear if the U.S. delegation will heed the demands.
According to a June 2 report by the publication Inside U.S. Trade, leading representatives of the Democratic Party on May 26 wrote, in an open letter to President George W. Bush, "Unless South Korea removes barriers to trade for automobile, financial, insurance, medical, and communications sectors, the free trade talks will face a fierce opposition from the U.S. Congress."
In the letter, the representatives urged that Korea guarantee visible and significant access to the Korean market for U.S. automobiles. They added that Korea should remove regulations in the software sector, as well as with copyright laws.
Rep. Sander Levin of Democratic Party said in an interview with Inside U.S. Trade, "If the Bush administration fails to secure broad access to the Korean market for its automobile industry, Congress will resist it strongly. Such is the dominant view of representatives of the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party has also raised the same concern." The possibility is high that the Senate also may send a letter to President Bush urging him to press the Korean government to eliminate other obstacles to trade, he added.
Prior to this, 32 senators May 24 sent a letter to Lee Tae-shik, South Korean ambassador to the U.S., saying that U.S. Congress would not pass the South Korea-U.S. FTA unless Korea accepts the comprehensive import of U.S. beef.
The chief negotiator for the trade talks with the U.S., Kim Jong-hoon, arrived in Washington on June 4.
"The FTA drafts by South Korea and the U.S. are considerably aggressive in terms of strategies and tactics," Mr. Kim said. "The agreements made at the first round negotiation will be included into a single text. Additionally, we are going to make a separate statement containing the demands of both sides, which will be used for the next negotiations."
Over 50 members of the "Pan-National Movement to Stop the Korea-U.S. FTA" arrived in Washington on the same day, and will hold joint demonstrations with trade organizations and civic groups.
