House subcommittee to hold hearing on U.S. auto: lawmaker

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- A congressional hearing will be held next week to
address trade barriers to U.S. autos in South Korea and Japan, a senior lawmaker
said .

The hearing of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, scheduled for
Thursday, will "examine past U.S. efforts to open these markets, why these
efforts have been unsuccessful and what can be done to level the playing field
and open these markets to U.S. autos," Sander Levin, chairman of the
subcommittee, said in a statement.
The imbalance in the auto trade is the biggest hurdle to the Congressional
ratification of the Korea FTA signed in 2007. U.S. President Barack Obama is
lukewarm on the KORUS FTA and two other trade agreements with Colombia and Panama
amid rising protectionist sentiment in the Democratic Congress as the world's
biggest economy struggles with the worst recession in decades.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said last month that the Obama administration
has been working to address U.S. concerns about the auto industry and the
restricted shipment of beef markets with South Korea so it can present the deal
to Congress for Congressional approval.
U.S. officials have said they want to address such concerns possibly in side
agreements without revising the text of the deal.
"In no sector is the lack of reciprocal market access more apparent than in
Japan's and South Korea's auto sector, where market access barriers to U.S auto
imports have led to grave auto trade deficits, which account for over 70 percent
of the overall U.S. trade deficit with each nation," Levin said. "This hearing
will provide Members with the opportunity to examine Japan's and South Korea's
trade policies and consider the possible ways of dealing with these barriers that
shut out U.S. autos."
The statement denounced South Korea for using "a menu of rotating non-tariff
barriers to keep foreign autos out of its domestic market."
"In 2008, South Korea exported 616,000 cars and light trucks to the United
States, but imported just 10,377 cars and light trucks from the United States,"
the statement said. "The result: 78 percent of our $13 billion trade deficit with
South Korea in 2008 was in autos, trucks and parts."
Foreign market share decreased in South Korea from 5.3 percent in 2008 to 4.4
percent through November 2009, the statement said, putting the comparable figure
for Japan to 5.0 percent in 2007, 4.3 percent in 2008 and 3.7 percent through
November 2009, respectively.
South Korea has dismissed U.S. concerns over the auto trade, which it said should
be seen as part of a bigger deal encompassing a variety of industries. South
Korea is pressing the Obama administration to submit the deal by this summer,
fearing that failure to do so would push ratification to at least 2011, after
Congressional elections in November.
Some U.S. officials and experts, however, say the Korea FTA's ratification might
be possible only after the November elections, when Obama might have resolved to
a certain degree health care reform, the war in Afghanistan and other more urgent
issues.
The foreign affairs and trade committee of the South Korean National Assembly has
approved the pact, and the ruling Grand National Party is set to bring it to the
full Assembly for ratification as soon as Congress moves.
In November, Obama said while visiting Seoul that he is ready to deal with South
Korea separately from other Asian countries, such as China, which has a huge
trade surplus with the U.S.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said he is willing to discuss the imbalance
in auto trade and noted that Korea's $8 billion trade surplus with the U.S. is
far less than China's and Japan's.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)

Delete & Prev | Delete & Next
Mo