ID :
44982
Tue, 02/10/2009 - 14:46
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/44982
The shortlink copeid
Obama urges U.S. automakers to retool to compete with Korean cars
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Monday reiterated the
need for the U.S. auto industry to restructure itself to compete with South
Korean and Japanese cars.
In a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, Obama said, "If we don't use this
crisis as an opportunity to start retooling, then we will never catch up and be
able to compete effectively against Japanese automakers, Korean automakers, and
we will find ourselves continuing to slide."
Obama made the point while urging Congress to immediately pass an economic
stimulus package to help U.S. automakers and other struggling industries muddle
through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The Senate is about to approve the $827 billion bailout package, which then would
have to be reconciled with an $819 billion House package.
Senate Democrats greatly reduced the package from more than $900 billion to
attract support from a few Republicans and help avoid a filibuster by Republicans
who see the package as a pork barrel that includes funds for education and other
non-urgent sectors.
"This should be an opportunity for us to retool," Obama said. "And so, you know,
I am going to make this a big priority over the next few days, as we're trying to
reconcile the House and the Senate bill, getting folks in Congress to understand
that this is one of the best possible investments that we can make."
Obama's remarks on South Korean autos are the first since he took office last
month, although he earlier repeatedly cited South Korean and Japanese cars as an
example of the need to renovate U.S. industries that are losing competitiveness
in the global market.
While campaigning, Obama opposed ratification of the "badly flawed" free trade
agreement with South Korea as it stands, saying that South Korea exports more
than 700,000 autos to the U.S. annually while importing just 6,000.
South Korea disputes those figures, saying the export numbers include 250,000
units made in the U.S. at an Alabama plant owned by South Korea's largest
automaker, Hyundai, and exclude more than 125,000 automobiles sold in South Korea
by GM Daewoo, a Korean subsidiary of U.S. automaker GM.
Neither parliament has ratified the free trade deal.
The South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, signed in June 2007, has been in limbo
as the Democratic-led Congress in Washington remained reluctant to back the deal
amid opposition from trade unions, which fear possible job losses amid the
worsening global economic crisis.
At a Senate confirmation hearing last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
proposed that South Korea "re-engage negotiations on these vital provisions of
the agreement," urging Seoul to provide "genuine improvements."
Clinton is due in Seoul next week on the third leg of her Asia tour, her first
overseas trip since taking office last month, and is expected to discuss the free
trade agreement with Seoul officials.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Monday reiterated the
need for the U.S. auto industry to restructure itself to compete with South
Korean and Japanese cars.
In a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, Obama said, "If we don't use this
crisis as an opportunity to start retooling, then we will never catch up and be
able to compete effectively against Japanese automakers, Korean automakers, and
we will find ourselves continuing to slide."
Obama made the point while urging Congress to immediately pass an economic
stimulus package to help U.S. automakers and other struggling industries muddle
through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The Senate is about to approve the $827 billion bailout package, which then would
have to be reconciled with an $819 billion House package.
Senate Democrats greatly reduced the package from more than $900 billion to
attract support from a few Republicans and help avoid a filibuster by Republicans
who see the package as a pork barrel that includes funds for education and other
non-urgent sectors.
"This should be an opportunity for us to retool," Obama said. "And so, you know,
I am going to make this a big priority over the next few days, as we're trying to
reconcile the House and the Senate bill, getting folks in Congress to understand
that this is one of the best possible investments that we can make."
Obama's remarks on South Korean autos are the first since he took office last
month, although he earlier repeatedly cited South Korean and Japanese cars as an
example of the need to renovate U.S. industries that are losing competitiveness
in the global market.
While campaigning, Obama opposed ratification of the "badly flawed" free trade
agreement with South Korea as it stands, saying that South Korea exports more
than 700,000 autos to the U.S. annually while importing just 6,000.
South Korea disputes those figures, saying the export numbers include 250,000
units made in the U.S. at an Alabama plant owned by South Korea's largest
automaker, Hyundai, and exclude more than 125,000 automobiles sold in South Korea
by GM Daewoo, a Korean subsidiary of U.S. automaker GM.
Neither parliament has ratified the free trade deal.
The South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, signed in June 2007, has been in limbo
as the Democratic-led Congress in Washington remained reluctant to back the deal
amid opposition from trade unions, which fear possible job losses amid the
worsening global economic crisis.
At a Senate confirmation hearing last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
proposed that South Korea "re-engage negotiations on these vital provisions of
the agreement," urging Seoul to provide "genuine improvements."
Clinton is due in Seoul next week on the third leg of her Asia tour, her first
overseas trip since taking office last month, and is expected to discuss the free
trade agreement with Seoul officials.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
