Korea-U.S. FTA

Negotiations in late September?

The Korea Herald reports that the Korean trade minister thinks the upcoming round of negotiations will begin in late September:

“We did not discuss the timing of the discussion,” Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said. “But I think both sides may begin an intensive discussion in late September.”

He added that the U.S. appears not to be prepared for additional working-level negotiations.

What's the American administration thinking?

Claude Barfield of the American Enterprise Institute notes (The G-20 Summit: A Breakthrough for the U.S.–Korea FTA?) that (a) this is the administration's first "date certain" trade commitment, (b) the timing...

Outsourcing to Korea? Be careful and it should go well.

Sean Hayes at the Korean Law Blog says that you'll have fewer headaches if you outsource to Korea rather than India or China:

Direct flights between Honolulu and Seoul

Korea was added to the U.S. visa waiver program in 2008.  Now Kushibo (over at Monster Island) passes on reports that Hawaiian Air will begin direct flights between Honolulu and Seoul: Hawaiian Air to launch direct service to Korea.  This, he thinks, is related to the extension of the waiver program and will result in additional economic growth in Hawaii.  Kushibo says he has other visa-waiver-related posts in the Monster Island pipeline; that's something to look forward to.

What are these Korean non-tariff barriers to U.S. cars and trucks?

Auto industry representative Stephen Collins explained to a Ways and Means subcommittee in 2007:

So, remind me again - what's in the agreement?

Here's a year-old Congressional Research Service overview: The Proposed U.S.-South Korea Free Trade
Agreement (KORUS FTA): Provisions and Implications (March, 2009).

The AFL-CIO weighs in:

The AFL-CIO "strongly opposes" the agreement as negotiated.  What they want:

Our negotiators should go back to the table to address the imbalanced market-access provisions in the agreement [they're especially concerned about auto non-tariff barriers in the Korean market] and to revisit the flawed investment, procurement, and services provisions as well.

Kim Jong-hoon isn't about to change a single comma in the agreement

Korea's Trade Minister, Kim Jong-hoon says, no changes:

Congressional KORUS FTA Working Group

Six congressmen have started a "Congressional U.S. – South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) Working Group" to...