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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| U.S. Reaches Free-Trade Agreement With South Korea |
| 2007-04-02 |
| April 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and South Korea reached a free-trade accord worth as much as $29 billion that if ratified would be the largest for the U.S. since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. ``This is a strong deal for America's farmers and ranchers who will gain substantial new access to Korea's large and prosperous market of 48 million people,'' Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia told reporters in Seoul today. ``Neither side obtained everything it sought.'' The agreement will eliminate duties on products such as South Korean autos and apparel, and cut investment barriers for American insurers and financial companies. South Korea will abolish its 40 percent tariff on U.S. beef over 15 years and the pork tariff over 10 years, Trade Minister Kim Hyun Chong said at the joint briefing. Rice wasn't included in the accord. ``The FTA should be seen as an economic marriage between both countries,'' said William Oberlin, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. The agreement ``will take the Korea-U.S. economic relationship to the next level.'' South Korean stocks rose to a five-week high, led by automakers such as Hyundai Motor Co. Scrapping Tariffs The U.S. will ``immediately'' scrap tariffs on Korean cars with engines of three liters or less and on auto parts, Bhatia said. It will phase out duties on bigger engines within three years, on tires within five years and on pick-up trucks within 10. South Korea exported $6.6 billion a year in automobiles to the U.S. between 2003 and 2005. Auto part exports during the same period averaged $1.4 billion annually. Trade between the two nations was worth almost $77 billion in 2006, according to South Korea's Commerce Ministry. A free- trade agreement may boost U.S. exports to Asia's third-largest economy by as much as $19 billion annually, while South Korea stands to get a $10 billion jump in exports to the U.S., according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. The accord ends 10 months of wrangling that peaked with almost round-the-clock talks in Seoul for the past two days. Negotiators extended the talks after missing a self-imposed March 31 deadline. President George W. Bush's authority to negotiate trade deals that can't be altered by Congress expires June 30. ``Both sides worked very hard to make this a win-win deal,'' said Lee Hee Beom, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, and former minister of commerce, industry and energy. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #1 There must be something good in it for us: the usual Sork suspects are bitching about it big time. Sork could certainly use some cheaper food though; it's expensive for the average person to eat here and it's not at all uncommon to see garden plots that are no bigger than 2 square meters. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-04-02 17:48 |