’USTR wants FTA ratified without change’
04-12-2009
’USTR Wants FTA Ratified Without Change’
The office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) wants a free trade pact with South Korea to be ratified without renegotiation, unlike the U.S. Democrats who are calling for an amendment, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday, quoting sources in Seoul.
The two countries concluded their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), called the KORUS FTA, in 2007, but U.S. ratification has been delayed reportedly due to opposition from President Barack Obama and Democrats controlling Congress.
According to Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the office of Rep. Hong Jung-wook, a ruling party lawmaker, the U.S. trade journal "Inside U.S. Trade" reported Friday, "Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Danny Sepulveda had told business representatives that it is the intent of USTR to address outstanding issues on the pending free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea without renegotiating their texts."
However, there was no comment on the timetable for the U.S. ratification of the FTA with South Korea, the ministry said.
It is the first time that the U.S. trade office has expressed its position that there is no need to reopen the texts of the KORUS FTA. Last month, the nominee for U.S. trade representative said the KORUS FTA is not acceptable as it stands.
Ahead of his election late last year, Obama labeled the deal "badly flawed," saying it does too little to narrow a huge trade imbalance in South Korea’s favor, especially in auto trade.
In January, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also cited the imbalance in the auto trade during her confirmation hearing.
South Korea has strongly ruled out revisiting the pact, which cleared a parliamentary subcommittee in February despite strong opposition from opposition parties.
If ratified, the FTA, touted as the biggest ever for South Korea, will knock down tariff and non-tariff barriers between the two economies, whose two-way trade reached $78.4 billion in 2007.
