Korea-U.S. FTA

Cutler Speaks

Wendy Cutler, U.S. chief negotiator on the KORUS FTA, made the U.S. credibility, and the "let's not be the victim of trade diversion" arguments in a talk at the Peterson Institute on Tuesday: US official says failure to ratify SKorean trade deal could ruin U.S. image in Asia (AP, Nov 27). 

Failure by U.S. lawmakers to ratify a free trade pact with South Korea would damage the United States' credibility in Asia and hamper its future trade in the booming region, according to a senior U.S. trade official.

Wendy Cutler, an assistant trade representative and the lead U.S. negotiator of the pact, said Tuesday that South Korea is pursuing trade accords with Canada and other countries while the U.S. Congress considers the deal.

"Korea is not standing still, waiting for us to approve the FTA," Cutler told an audience at the Peterson Institute for International Economics....

"Failure to act on this landmark deal would severely damage our credibility in the Asia-Pacific region," Cutler said, and would lead Asia's economies to "conclude that we are an unreliable trading partner."

"The rest of Asia is watching how the Korea debate unfolds in the United States," she said.

Cutler and Kim Speak

Wendy Cutler and Kim Jong-Hoon led their respective country's teams in the KORUS FTA negotiations.  Both have spoken to the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea in recent weeks.

Cutler went first, on October 16.  The Chamber in Korea is in favor of the agreement, she didn't have to lay out the arguments for it.  Her objective was to explain the efforts under way to secure ratification. 

And Cutler is confident of eventual ratification: Agreed, she says, the opponents of the agreement got their licks in early.  But,the administration is strongly behind ratification, there is a strong and broad support for the agreement by the business community, the Administration is engaged in a promising grass-roots effort to educate Americans about the benefits of the agreements, and there is solid support on Capital Hill. 

But, opening of the Korean beef will "be critical to our efforts to gain Congressional approval of the KORUS FTA is the full reopening of the Korean market to U.S. beef products. Without this step, key Congressional leaders have made clear that they will not be in a position to support the Agreement."

Bar coded beef

South Korea is going to require tracking of beef from the birth of the animal to the consumer: S. Korea to introduce nationwide cattle, beef tracking systems in later 2008 (Korea.net, Nov 26):

Korea's Other Bilateral Trade Negotiations

The Koreans aren't just working on a trade agreement with the U.S.  They are negotiating preferential access to their market with many other countries.  Here's the summary report from the Asian Regional Integration Center: Korea, Republic of:

Helping Small and Medium Sized Korean Exporters Take Advantage of FTAs

Exporters tend to be bigger than other firms.  The Korean International Trade Association (KITA) may build support for FTAs, and make it easier for more firms to take advantage when FTAs become effective, with this fair for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs): KITA to host FTA awareness fair.

Christine Ahn's Five Myths

Christine Ahn prepared the leaflet Debunking Five Myths aboutthe Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (Korus FTA) for the progressive/left, Oakland Institute.

The five myths:

U.S. Rice Producers Aren't Happy With the Deal

Korea insisted that rice be left out of the deal.  U.S. rice producers weren't very happy.

The U.S. Rice Federation had originally argued for the following rice negotiating objectives (Submission to the Trade Policy Staff Committee, March 14, 2006):

ITC Looking at Korean Beef Ban

When the International Trade Commission (ITC) investigates Global Beef Trade: Effects of Animal Health, Sanitary, Food Safety, and Other Measures on U.S. Beef Exports, Korean barriers to beef imports come up. 

Tim Johnston reports on ITC hearings last week for Meatingplace.com: U.S. beef airs complaints with ITC (Nov 19).

What's in it for Memphis?

Troy Stangarone, Congressional affairs director for the Korea Economic Institute, makes the case to a Tennessee audience: Mid-South can't afford to lose S. Korea market (The Commerical Appeal, Nov 16):

The Korean Ambassador Visits Jacksonville

Korea Ambassador Lee Tae-Sik traveled to Jacksonville, Florida (where the Korean firm Hanjin Shipping Co. is planning to build a large shipping facility) and promoted the Free Trade Agreement:

• Korean ambassador lands in Jacksonville (David Ball, Financial News and Daily Record, Nov 16);
• Approval of a U.S.-Korea free trade agreement would pave the way for a major contract. (David Hunt, Florida Times-Union, Nov 16).

Ball reports: