US-S Korea FTA languishes in Congress

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WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (AFP): Five months after the United States and South Korea signed a free trade agreement, there is little urgency among lawmakers to approve the most commercially significant US deal in 15 years.
Signed after 10 months of intense negotiations in June, President George W Bush's administration had expected Congress to consider the pact in the fall but concerns from US automakers and South Korean restrictions on American beef could delay its debate up to March 2008, officials and experts said.
The US-Peru free trade agreement cleared a critical hurdle in the House of Representatives last week-the first such accord passed since Democrats won control of Congress a year ago-but key lawmakers remain opposed to the South Korean pact.