Seoul talks to shape FTA with U.S.
Korea Herald
Seoul talks to shape FTA with U.S.
By Yoo Soh-jung
27 June 2006
The second round of the free trade agreement talks between Korea and the United States to begin on July 10 is expected to determine the shape and future course of the controversial deal, experts say.
"The second round will actually be the true beginning of the FTA negotiations, as both parties will propose concessions and ’exceptional cases’ in order to protect their sensitive sectors and products, especially in agriculture," Suh Jin-kyo, a trade expert at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, told The Korea Herald. "This will be the main issue in the next round."
The first official round held from June 5 to 9 in Washington D.C. was focused on enhancing mutual understanding by explaining their respective basic positions and reducing the gap in their respective positions in as many fields as possible.
The two countries made progress in drawing up a unified text for matters that are similar or negotiable, as well as establishing a consolidated text for conflicting issues so as to provide a foundation for future negotiations.
Suh noted that the talks - to be held in Seoul till July 14 - will shape the implementation period over tariff elimination or increases in import quotas for categories currently being covered in the trade deal.
Seoul and Washington made notable progress in areas such as e-commerce, telecommunications, financial services, trademark protection, trade competition and labor in the last round. Both countries, however, failed to draw up texts for other categories, which includes agriculture and textiles, due to their sensitive nature.
Wendy Cutler, assistant U.S. trade representative, reportedly warned that there were still "very difficult" issues ahead, including trade restrictions in politically sensitive areas such as rice for Seoul and automobiles for Washington.
Lee Jung-hwan, head of research firm GS&J Institute, said both countries will have to find common ground on special safeguard issues to favorably advance the negotiations.
Korea is expected to maintain its "hands-off" stance for rice, while the United States is expected to seek exceptions on such categories as cotton, sugar and beef, categories deemed highly subsidized.
Lee expressed skepticism about reaching significant progress in the second round of talks.
"Both countries have sensitive products, and both sides will make their best efforts to reach an understanding and seek trade-offs, but this will need persuasion and time. This is all part of a negotiating process," said Lee in a telephone interview. "I don’t expect significant progress in the next round, because I think sensitive issues, especially agriculture, will be sticky until the very end."
