Korea FTA`s ratification to enhance exports, jobs: Deputy USTR

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, July 28 (Yonhap) -- The ratification of the pending free trade deal
with South Korea will greatly increase U.S. exports to Asia's fourth biggest
economy and create jobs in the U.S., suffering from a near two-digit jobless
rate, a top U.S. trade official said Wednesday.
"The pending U.S.-Korea agreement is a great opportunity for the United States,
promising to generate an additional $10 to $11 billion in annual exports and
support up to 70,000 additional export-related jobs," Deputy U.S. Trade
Representative Demetrios Marantis told a forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
according to the Web site of the U.S. Trade Representative's Office.
Marantis noted President Obama's instruction last month to "resolve the
Administration's outstanding concerns with this agreement by this November's G20
Summit in Seoul, and have the agreement ready to submit to Congress in the
subsequent months."
The Korea free trade agreement (FTA), signed by the Bush administration in 2007,
has been on hold, with Obama citing lopsided auto trade and restricted shipments
of beef.
Independent studies show the implementation of the FTA with South Korea, the
seventh-largest trading partner for the U.S., will create 240,000 jobs and
increase annual two-way trade by more than US$20 billion, up from $83 billion.
The U.S. goods trade deficit with South Korea was US$10.6 billion in 2009, down
$2.8 billion from 2008, according to USTR figures.
Marantis said earlier this month that the U.S. will focus on auto and beef
discussions in the upcoming negotiations with South Korea, sidelining other
issues.
"The key focus has been beef and autos, and those are the issues we are focusing
on," he said. "Other concerns that people have with respect to our relationship
with Korea" can be addressed via "bilateral consultation mechanisms with the
Koreans that we consistently use to address issues as they come up."
He also said at the time that the U.S. will be able to present proposals to Korea
"at some point in the near future, with the hope of meeting the president's
challenge of concluding this by the G-20 in November."
U.S. officials have said they prefer a side agreement rather than revising the
text of the FTA.
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said recently that Seoul and Washington
officials will begin discussions in late September.
Kim met with Kirk here in May, but the chief U.S. trade negotiator was unprepared
to suggest ways to address the concerns over beef and autos.
Kim said last month he is not sure if Washington will ask for shipments of U.S.
beef from cattle over 30 months old, saying that does not guarantee a rise in
U.S. beef shipments due to increased concerns over safety. Shipments now are
restricted to cattle under 30 months old due to fears of mad cow disease.
He said Seoul is ready to address any problems to be raised by the U.S. on
non-tariff barriers or unfair trade practices, but added, "It is a wrong approach
if the U.S. calls for a balance in the trade of certain products while ignoring
the reality where the markets have different sizes and trade volumes."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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