US free trade deal with South Korea gives push to Canada’s talks, official says
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
U.S. free trade deal with South Korea gives push to Canada’s talks, official says
Canadian Press: JULIAN BELTRAME
OTTAWA (CP) — A free-trade agreement between Canada and South Korea has become more likely, now that the Asian country has completed negotiations on a deal with the United States, a Canadian government official said Tuesday.
"This is definitely an agreement that we are fairly close on," said Francois Jubinville, a spokesperson for Trade Minister David Emerson. "For the Koreans, the U.S. was a priority so now that that is out of the way, we’re hopeful we’ll reach an agreement in the near future," Jubinville said.
The tenth round of talks between Canada and South Korea have been set for April 23 in Seoul.
Canadian officials say it is unlikely a deal with be reached at those meetings, but added that the two sides are not far apart.
In a deal described as the biggest for the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement, Washington and Seoul agreed Monday to eliminate and lower tariffs and other trade barriers in a wide range of industrial goods and services, including financial services.
Under the arrangement, which must still be ratified by both governments, South Korea would eliminate tariffs on 95 per cent of all consumer and industrial products from the U.S. within three years, and on virtually all goods within 10 years.
Canadian government officials said Tuesday they had yet to see a formal text of the agreement so could not say whether it could form a model for Canada’s negotiating position.
But Shirley-Ann George, of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said that once ratified the U.S.-South Korea pact would have immediate impacts on some Canadian products if Canada does not negotiate a similar agreement.
"Canadian wheat, wine and frozen french fries will have a tariff going into South Korea and the Americans won’t," George said.
She noted that when the U.S. signed an agreement with four Caribbean countries last year, Canadian exporters of frozen French fries lost markets almost overnight because they still faced a 10 per cent duty.
George agreed that the U.S. negotiations had held up Canadian talks because "the Koreans wouldn’t have wanted to grant concessions" to Canada until they knew the final details of their deal with the U.S.
A key sticking point in the Canadian talks, as it was with the United States, remains Korea’s varied non-tariff barriers that have all but prevented foreign automakers from making a dent in the country.
For example, over 50 per cent of vehicles sold in Canada are from foreign automakers, compared to less than five per cent in South Korea.
The South Korea-U.S. agreement calls for an expedited dispute settlement process in the auto sector, but the early indications are that it is unlikely to placate the Canadian industry.
The Automotive Trade Policy Council, a lobby group for the three big Detroit-based automakers, has said the agreement "does not appear to meet our expectations."
Stuart Schorr, a spokesperson for DaimlerChrysler Canada, said the U.S. agreement has not alleviated the concerns over a Canadian-South Korea pact.
"We have always supported free trade, we just want it to be fair," said Schorr. "We are still concerned about our ability to sell vehicles in South Korea.
The Canadian Auto Workers have also campaigned hard to prevent Canada from signing a free trade agreement. CAW president Buzz Hargrove predicts it could cost thousands of Canadian jobs.
Jubinville said the government is aware of the industry’s concern, adding that Canada is prepared to take as long as necessary to reach a deal "that is good for the country."
