Korea-U.S. FTA

Wendy Cutler Lobbies for the Agreement in Seoul

Wendy Cutler - who led the U.S. delegation that negotiated the trade agreement - has been in Seoul this week trying to drum up support for the agreement: US trade official urges KORUS FTA ratification (Korea.net, Feb 27). 

The picture shows her shaking hands with Grand National Party (GNP) Chairman Kang Jae-sup.  She again drew attention to the importance of opening the market to U.S. beef; a condition for Congress to take-up the agreement. 

The JoongAng Daily, however, wondered if it made sense for Korea to give up the leverage the beef closure provided ([Outlook]An uncertain future, Feb 28):

How the New Law Opening the Korean Legal Market Works

Brian Rupp and Jae En Kim report on the new law that opens up the Korean legal market: Korean Legal Services Set to Open Up (Law.com, Feb 26).  They describe the new law as "the first measure the Korean government has taken to comply with the free trade agreement..."

The law opens the legal market in three stages:

Forum on the KORUS Auto Provisions

The Korea Economic Institute is sponsoring a forum tomorrow (Thursday, February 28) on the auto provisions of the trade agreement.  The auto provisions will be an especially controversial part of the agreement if the Congress ever takes it up.

The forum is built around the presentation of the paper "Autos and the KORUS FTA" by Dr. Sang-yirl Nam of the Korea Information Society Development Institute.  The paper will be discussed by Jeffrey Schott of the Peterson Institute of International Trade, and by Doug Meyer of the UAW.  Bernard Swiecki of the Center for Automotive Research, and Daniel Malone of the Michigan law firm Butzel Long will be there to discuss the auto industry.

A word about Dr. Nam:

Sang-yirl Nam is Director of IT Trade Strategy Center at the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI), Korea. His main research interests are in trade liberalization and trade policy, APEC and East Asia trade, technical barriers to trade (TBT) and trade and development related issues. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and served as the Advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of Korea on trade policy issues.

Thursday, February 28, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
1201 F St. NW, Suite 910

Continental Breakfast will be served from 8:45am.

RSVP for this event.

Other posts on the auto provisions of the trade agreement may be found here: Cars and trucks .

Korea's New President

Just a short post to note the inauguration today (Feb 25 in Seoul) of Korea's new President, Lee Myung-bak: Lee Seeks Investment to Help Boost Korean Economy (Heejin Koo, Bloomberg, Feb 25). 

Lee is a former businessman and mayor of Seoul, an economic conservative who has promised to double per capita income by 2017, and a strong advocate of the trade agreement with the U.S.  Jane Han reports KORUS FTA Baton Passed On to Lee (Korea Times, Feb 24).  Lee Joon-seung notes that Lee faces tough economic challenges (Yonhap news, Feb 24).

Is Korea Picking the Right FTA Partners?

Has Korea been picking the right trade partners for FTA negotiations?  Kim Do-hun, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade doesn't think so: FTA targets miss the mark: expert (Limb Jae-un, JoongAng  Daily, Feb 20); ‘Hong Kong, China Ideal for Korea’s FTA Partners’ (Yoon Ja-young, Korea Times, Feb19).

Limb reports:

Going Nowhere Fast in the National Assembly

The current session of the National Assembly ends on February 26.  It evidently went into recess on the 20th: Assembly unlikely to act on FTA (Limb Jae-un, JoongAng Daily, Feb 21).  It's not clear to me from this story if this was a one or two day recess, or if the Assembly is still in recess. 

Even if the Unification, Foreign Affairs, and Trade Committee reports the ratification bill, it still has to be approved by Legislative Review Subcommittee, the Standing Committee and the General Assembly (FTA faces hard road in current Assembly , Limb Jae-un, JoongAng Daily, Feb21).

The China Gambit

Commerce Secretary Gutierrez argues that Congress should deal with Chinese imports by ratifying the trade agreement with Korea: U.S.-Korea deal seen helping to curb China imports (Reuters, February 19):

Korean Passport Debates

Electronic passports are a requirement if Korea is to qualify for the U.S. visa waiver program.  However, the Chosun Ilbo reports that National Assembly debates over electronic passports may hold things up: Passport Wrangles Cast U.S. Visa Waiver into Limbo (Feb 20):

The Big Beef Recall

The largest beef recall in U.S. history has raised concerns among some Koreans about reopening their market to U.S. beef.  A reopening of the Korean market to U.S. beef imports is generally considered to be a requirement for the U.S. Congress to even consider the trade agreement.

Hankyoreh Says Committee Report Critical of FTA

The Hankyoreh is reporting on the release of a report on the FTA by the National Assembly's Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee.  The Committee studied the document last week: FTA approval could be held up by unconstitutional clauses (February 18).

Among the issues reportedly raised in the report:

• ...the number of requirements listed as being applicable only to South Korea is eight times higher than that of the number solely applicable to the United States....
• ...the agreement’s automobile-related taxation clauses are not in line with the nation’s constitution, which requires that laws be enacted to set tax rates or determine which items are to be taxed.
• “Also, the possibility of bigger damage can’t be ruled out because the possible revision of the auto tax would be applied to Japanese and German cars, as well as to U.S. cars,” the report said. “In terms of legal or economic aspects, there are concerns about potential side effects.”
• The inclusion in the trade pact of what has been called a “liberalization reversal prevention mechanism,” could also introduce another unconstitutional element, according to the report. Under the mechanism, South Korea would not be allowed to tighten regulations if they were eased when the pact went into effect. Therefore, the mechanism limits the National Assembly’s right to make laws and restricts the liberty of national policies, the report said.
• The report also criticized the South Korean government for “not trying to reach a social consensus before starting free trade talks, or during the negotiations.”