U.S. to work diligently on auto, other issues for Korea FTA's ratification: Kirk

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, May 18 (Yonhap) -- The United States will work diligently to resolve
the auto and other issues impeding an early ratification of the pending free
trade deal with South Korea, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Monday.

"We had a very candid but productive discussion about the domestic challenges
that we both face in terms of going forward with this agreement," Kirk told a
luncheon meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We are committed to working
diligently to address those concerns so that we can best determine how to move
this important agreement forward."
The top U.S. trade negotiator was discussing the outcome of his meeting with
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon here Thursday.
Kirk would not elaborate on what he discussed with Kim about what the U.S. says
is the imbalance in auto trade.
"We had a very frank and honest dialogue," he said. "Obviously he is aware of the
domestic sensitivity of that. We are going to continue to have dialogue and work
with him along the way to resolve all those things."
U.S. officials have stressed a need to address what they call an imbalance in
auto sales and restricted shipments of U.S. beef before bringing the deal, signed
in 2007, to Congress for a vote.
They also said they would prefer to address the concern in side agreements
without revising the text of the deal itself.
South Korean Ambassador Han Duck-soo recently said his government has "no
intention of reopening already-concluded agreements," although he said that Seoul
will address any stumbling blocks to ratification.
Kim said Thursday that he did not discuss auto, beef or any other detailed issues
with Kirk in his first meeting with his U.S. counterpart since Kirk took over the
post in March.
Kim said he and Kirk agreed to "find a solution as soon as possible, although we
have some difficulties," and that he made it clear to Kirk that it is "not
appropriate to touch the text of the deal."
He said he expects the Korea FTA will be ratified by the end of the year, citing
several meetings between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President
Barack Obama scheduled for the coming months, both bilaterally and on the
sidelines of international forums.
Lee is coming to Washington on June 16 for a summit meeting with Obama.
At a summit between the two leaders in London last month, the first of its kind,
Lee and Obama "agreed that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement could bring
benefits to both countries and are committed to working together to chart a way
forward."
Meeting briefly with the press after the chamber of commerce speech, Kirk would
not set a timeframe for the presentation of the pending FTAs with South Korea,
Panama and Colombia, saying "it depends on negotiations."
He also stressed the potential benefits of the Korea FTA to the struggling South
Korean and U.S. economies amid the worst recession in decades.
"As for the U.S-Korea free trade agreement, that has an extraordinary potential
to bring significant economic and strategic benefits for both the United States
and Korea while demonstrating the U.S. commitment to expanding our economic
engagement and leadership in Asia," he said.
USTR figures forecast that the Korea FTA, the biggest for the U.S. since 1993's
North American Free Trade Agreement, would increase annual U.S. exports to South
Korea by more than US$10 billion and increase U.S. gross domestic product by $10
billion to $12 billion annually. Korea is the seventh biggest trading partner for
the U.S.
Obama has been reluctant to send the Korea FTA to Congress for a vote amid
growing protectionist sentiment among Democrats, and he has taken issue with what
he has called lopsided auto trade.
South Korea disputes the U.S. import figures, which include hundreds of thousands
of autos produced by Hyundai Motor's plant in Alabama and omit more than 110,000
cars GM Daewoo, General Motors' Korean subsidiary, sold in South Korea last year.
GM Daewoo's sales account for 11.7 percent of the Korean market, much more than
Hyundai's and Kia Motors' market share in the U.S., which stood at about 7
percent for the first several months of this year.
South Korea's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and trade has approved
the pact, signaling possible ratification during a plenary session in June.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)

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