S. Korean officials walk out of one committee in free trade talks with US
Seogwipo, South Korea, Oct. 23 2006 (Yonhap News)
S. Korean officials walk out of one committee in free trade talks with U.S.
Free trade talks between Seoul and Washington hit a rough patch on Monday as South Korean officials walked out of one committee handling tariff concessions on mobile phones and other industrial products.
Apparently underlining difficulty in reaching a compromise in certain areas, the chief U.S. negotiator, Wendy Cutler, indicated that the negotiations, which began in June, may have to continue beyond the pre-set target of the end of this year.
"The U.S. presented an improved offer of tariff concessions on industrial goods, but that fell significantly short of our expectations," the chief South Korean delegate, Kim Jong-hoon, told reporters. "So, we had to suspend talks on industrial goods."
In a show of discontent, South Korean delegates walked out of a committee that handled industrial goods, Kim said.
Kim did not specify areas of South Korean discontent but multiple sources said the U.S. sought to phase out tariffs on auto parts, mobile phones and flat-panel television sets within 10 years, but South Korea demanded that the U.S. shorten the period.
Kim said, however, the impasse was not expected to affect negotiations in other areas.
South Korean officials said negotiations on industrial goods may not reopen on Tuesday but both sides are expected to continue discussions on the matter through an official channel.
The two countries had previously agreed to wrap up the negotiations by the year’s end to give enough time for their legislatures to ratify the deal before June 30 next year, when the U.S. President George W. Bush’s "fast-track" trade authority expires.
"We are still trying to conclude talks by the end of this year or early next year, but we won’t hurry," Cutler told reporters.
"FTA talks by their nature are very complex, particularly when talking about two large, sophisticated economies. We are both seeking an agreement that addresses national endurance."
In order for the talks to move on, Cutler, who serves as deputy U.S. trade representative, said Washington has proposed that South Korea make tariff cuts worth US$2.4 billion in industrial goods, textiles and agriculture.
She did not say how South Korean officials responded to her proposal.
"We have submitted these offers in an effort to make progress, but we can’t make progress alone," she said. "We come to Jeju island with the objective of making as much progress as possible."
Before starting this round of talks on this South Korean resort island of Jeju on Monday, the fourth since June, South Korean officials expressed concern that the U.S. may not be ready to make concessions on rice and other sensitive items on their list.
At the third round of talks in Seattle in July, the U.S. came up with a long list of complaints about South Korea’s agricultural, pharmaceutical and automobile markets.
South Korea also presented its own list of complaints, including Washington’s unwillingness to open its textile market and its refusal to restrict the use of its anti-dumping law to penalize electronic and other high-tech South Korean imports.
Outside the conference room, thousands of riot police virtually cordoned off the area to secure the talks. They blocked all roads leading to the meeting site with large metal containers and chunks of concrete and searched all vehicles heading to the area.
Activists staged seaborne protests aboard 50 small boats off the plush Shilla Hotel where the talks were held. Maritime police patrol boats kept them off the beach. "We, four million farming people, again demand that the government halt the FTA talks that have been pushed without a national consensus," Seo Jeong-hee, head of the Korea Advanced Farmers Federation, said at a protest rally.
If a deal is signed with South Korea, it would be the biggest trade accord for the U.S. since it launched the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada in 1994.
South Korea is Washington’s seventh largest trading partner.
For South Korea, the U.S. is its second largest export market after China. Tow-way trade reached US$72 billion in 2005.
