Negotiator says US may have to reopen FTA discussion on labor, other provisions
Yonhap News 2007/04/12
Negotiator says U.S. may have to reopen FTA discussion on labor, other provisions
By Lee Dong-min
WASHINGTON, April 11 (Yonhap) — The United States may have to renegotiate labor and possibly other provisions in its free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, a senior official said Wednesday.
A South Korean official had said Tuesday that Seoul considers the labor chapter of the agreement closed.
Wendy Cutler, assistant deputy U.S. trade representative, said discussions were still ongoing between the administration and the Congress on some provisions for a new FTA template.
"We made Korea aware of these discussions, and once the discussions are concluded, we will then be in a position to figure out with Korea the best way to move forward," she said at a discussion session hosted at the Heritage Foundation.
Cutler was the chief negotiator for the trade pact with South Korea, the seventh largest trading partner for the U.S. The deal would eliminate 95 percent of industrial tariffs within three years after it goes into effect.
The FTA was concluded while the U.S. had yet to determine its position on labor and environmental issues. On the former, the Congress is divided on whether to subject an FTA to core standards of the International Labor Organization.
A South Korean official, briefing reporters Tuesday on background, acknowledged the issue could cause complications should the U.S. decide to reopen discussions, especially regarding dispute settlement mechanisms that involve paying monetary penalties.
But he said changes to the concluded FTA are not possible without South Korea’s assent.
On the subject of U.S. beef, Cutler repeated the position of the Congress that without South Korea restarting imports, the FTA is on thin ice.
"It’s not a question for us to convince Congress," she said. "This is just a reality of the situation."
While not on the official agenda at the FTA talks, beef was one of the factors that dominated the atmosphere of the negotiations. The U.S. strongly protested Seoul’s rejection of three consecutive shipments of American beef after finding bone fragments.
After a three-year ban, South Korea agreed to resume imports of boneless products. The U.S. accuses Seoul of applying unscientific safety guidelines.
Brian Pomper, former aide to Sen. Max Baucus, said the makeup of the Senate Finance Committee suggests the FTA can be defeated just on the beef issue.
"There are 21 members on the committee, and I can easily count 11 members who will base their vote largely on this issue alone," he said.
A fifth-term senator from Montana, finance chairman Baucus has been a vociferous critic of the FTA for not securing a full resolution on the beef issue and vowed to block the deal until South Korea resumes imports.
Pomper said lack of trust may be the more fundamental problem.
There is no guarantee the beef issue will remain resolved even after the FTA is signed and approved, said Pomper.
"What if there is another bone fragment in a shipment? Would Korea slam down its market again?" he said.
