US offers to revise trade deal with South Korea
Monday, 18 June 2007
SEOUL, June 17 (AFP): The United States wants to revise a hard-won free trade agreement with South Korea to reflect new US trade policy guidelines, the foreign ministry here said Sunday.
The US Trade Representative office Saturday presented a revised pact which had April's original agreement partly modified, added or deleted, the ministry said in a statement.
US trade negotiator Wendy Cutler visits Seoul from June 21-22 to explain those changes in the sectors of labour, environment, pharmaceuticals, national security, government procurement, harbour safety and investment, it said.
"The government will decide on how to respond after scrutinising the US proposal and consulting with relevant ministries and agencies," it said.
The US measure has been expected since May, when Congress and the White House agreed to a bi-partisan deal that sets social and environmental standards for free trade agreements.
US ambassador to Seoul, Alexander Vershbow, has since said work should be done to adapt the deal to reflect new US policy.
It would require pending pacts to include five core International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards and also laws to implement obligations under seven multilateral environmental agreements.
South Korea and the US, whose two-way trade reached 74 billion dollars in 2006, reached their free trade agreement in early April after 10 months of tough negotiations.
It is expected to be signed on June 30, before US President George W Bush's "fast-track" trade promotion authority expires, but the deal also needs ratification by the legislatures of both countries.
Some US Congress members are increasingly sceptical of the deal.
With protectionist sentiment rising ahead of 2008 elections, legislators from the Democrat-controlled Congress fear the deal will worsen the US trade deficit and does not go far enough in dismantling trade barriers, especially in the key auto sector.
The US Trade Representative office Saturday presented a revised pact which had April's original agreement partly modified, added or deleted, the ministry said in a statement.
US trade negotiator Wendy Cutler visits Seoul from June 21-22 to explain those changes in the sectors of labour, environment, pharmaceuticals, national security, government procurement, harbour safety and investment, it said.
"The government will decide on how to respond after scrutinising the US proposal and consulting with relevant ministries and agencies," it said.
The US measure has been expected since May, when Congress and the White House agreed to a bi-partisan deal that sets social and environmental standards for free trade agreements.
US ambassador to Seoul, Alexander Vershbow, has since said work should be done to adapt the deal to reflect new US policy.
It would require pending pacts to include five core International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards and also laws to implement obligations under seven multilateral environmental agreements.
South Korea and the US, whose two-way trade reached 74 billion dollars in 2006, reached their free trade agreement in early April after 10 months of tough negotiations.
It is expected to be signed on June 30, before US President George W Bush's "fast-track" trade promotion authority expires, but the deal also needs ratification by the legislatures of both countries.
Some US Congress members are increasingly sceptical of the deal.
With protectionist sentiment rising ahead of 2008 elections, legislators from the Democrat-controlled Congress fear the deal will worsen the US trade deficit and does not go far enough in dismantling trade barriers, especially in the key auto sector.