Korea, US agree to wrap up FTA talks by year-end
Chosun Ilbo, Korea
Korea, U.S. Agree to Wrap Up FTA Talks by Year-End
11 September 2006
The third round of free trade talks between Korea and the U.S. saw some progress in key sectors like agriculture and textiles but failed to narrow differences on easing U.S. anti-dumping measures. The three-day talks ended in Seattle on Saturday.
But the two sides agreed to speed up the negotiations and hold separate talks on textiles, cars, pharmaceuticals and regulations on place of origin before the fourth main round scheduled for Oct. 24-27 in Jeju Island.
The two sides agreed that now is not a time to keep treading in place, Korea’s chief negotiator Kim Jong-hoon told reporters. His U.S. counterpart Wendy Cutler said the two sides plan to wrap up the talks by the end of the year.
The key points agreed in the third round were to revise the two countries’ respective concession lists on agriculture, textiles and manufactured goods, opening markets much more than both had hoped. Washington submitted its revised concession list on Friday, while Korea plans to hand over its own list of further concessions for agricultural produce in mid-September. The U.S. wants markets for beans and corn, where the impact on the Korean agriculture industry will be least severe, to be opened first. The two sides also agreed to recognize safeguards on U.S. textiles and Korean farm produce.
They also made headway in talks on 11 service sectors, agreeing to ease caps on the stake foreigners can buy in Korean cable TV networks. In remaining obstacles, the U.S. is pushing for increased U.S. car imports but adamantly refuses to treat products from the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong as made in South Korea.
