ID :
19895
Wed, 09/17/2008 - 10:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/19895
The shortlink copeid
Obama calls Korean cars fuel efficient
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama branded South Korean cars as fuel efficient Tuesday, pledging to help American automakers compete.
"I'll help our auto companies retool so that the fuel-efficient cars of the
future are built right here in the United States of America, not in Japan, not in
South Korea, but right here in the United States of America," Obama said on
the campaign trail in Pueblo, Colorado, according to his Website.
Obama has publicly opposed congressional approval of the pending free trade
agreement with South Korea, citing the need to redress an imbalance in automobile
trade between South Korea and the U.S., 700,000 units versus 5,000 per year.
Democrats attribute the imbalance to tariff and non-tariff barriers, including
Korea's higher domestic taxes on cars with large engine capacity, a
characteristic of U.S.-made cars.
The first African-American presidential nominee of a major U.S. party, Obama said
in June, "I don't think an agreement that allows South Korea to import
hundreds of thousands of cars into the U.S., but continues to restrict U.S. car
exports into South Korea to a few thousand, is a smart deal."
Obama also demanded in May that the Bush administration refrain from submitting
the "flawed" South Korea-U.S. FTA to Congress and renegotiate it.
He has also said he will oppose any trade agreements "without labor or
environmental agreements," which he said "are in our long term
interests."
Some analysts dismiss Obama's opposition to the Korea-U.S. FTA as a campaign ploy
to woo votes from workers who fear possible job cuts.
South Korean and U.S. officials have expressed confidence that the bilateral FTA,
the biggest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement in the
early 1990s, will pass through Congress once it is put to vote during a lame duck
session likely to be convened after the November election.
Seoul and Washington signed the FTA in June last year and are awaiting approval
by the legislatures of both sides, hoping to enhance additional two-way trade
volume by US$20 billion annually.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama branded South Korean cars as fuel efficient Tuesday, pledging to help American automakers compete.
"I'll help our auto companies retool so that the fuel-efficient cars of the
future are built right here in the United States of America, not in Japan, not in
South Korea, but right here in the United States of America," Obama said on
the campaign trail in Pueblo, Colorado, according to his Website.
Obama has publicly opposed congressional approval of the pending free trade
agreement with South Korea, citing the need to redress an imbalance in automobile
trade between South Korea and the U.S., 700,000 units versus 5,000 per year.
Democrats attribute the imbalance to tariff and non-tariff barriers, including
Korea's higher domestic taxes on cars with large engine capacity, a
characteristic of U.S.-made cars.
The first African-American presidential nominee of a major U.S. party, Obama said
in June, "I don't think an agreement that allows South Korea to import
hundreds of thousands of cars into the U.S., but continues to restrict U.S. car
exports into South Korea to a few thousand, is a smart deal."
Obama also demanded in May that the Bush administration refrain from submitting
the "flawed" South Korea-U.S. FTA to Congress and renegotiate it.
He has also said he will oppose any trade agreements "without labor or
environmental agreements," which he said "are in our long term
interests."
Some analysts dismiss Obama's opposition to the Korea-U.S. FTA as a campaign ploy
to woo votes from workers who fear possible job cuts.
South Korean and U.S. officials have expressed confidence that the bilateral FTA,
the biggest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement in the
early 1990s, will pass through Congress once it is put to vote during a lame duck
session likely to be convened after the November election.
Seoul and Washington signed the FTA in June last year and are awaiting approval
by the legislatures of both sides, hoping to enhance additional two-way trade
volume by US$20 billion annually.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
