Obama likely to address KORUS FTA early next year after health care reform: Amb. Han

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- The Barack Obama administration will likely
proceed with the ratification of the free trade deal with South Korea early next
year after going through health care reform, South Korean ambassador Han Duck-soo
said Thursday.
"We expect chances for the ratification of the FTA late 2009 or early 2010 after
completion of health care reform," Han told a parliamentary session held at the
South Korean embassy here. "However, progress may not be made with ease in the
trade issue due to falling support for free trade in the wake of the economic
crisis."
Global warming, financial reform and next year's mid-term elections will also
likely serve as hurdles to the early ratification of the FTA signed in 2007, Han
said.
South Korean and U.S. lawmakers have not yet ratified the trade deal, which is
known formally as the KORUS FTA and is the largest for the U.S. since the North
American Free Trade Agreement of 1992.
Officials in both Korea and the U.S. have said they favor side agreements to
address U.S. concerns about an imbalance in auto trade and restricted shipments
of U.S. beef, rather than revising the text of the deal itself.
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said last month that she could
not "predict a timeframe" for the FTA's ratification, but expressed hope the two
sides will "come up with a way forward."
South Korea is the seventh-largest trading partner of the U.S., with trade in
goods reaching US$83 billion in 2008, and trade in services reaching $19 billion
in 2007.
"If approved, the agreement would be the United States' most commercially
significant free trade agreement in more than 16 years," the U.S. Trade
Representative said in a report recently. "The U.S. International Trade
Commission estimates that the reduction of Korean tariffs and tariff-rate quotas
on goods alone would add $10 billion to $12 billion to the annual U.S. GDP, and
around $10 billion to U.S. annual goods exports to Korea."
Han said that 296 public comments or 91.6 percent out of the total 324 comments
filed to the USTR supported the KORUS FTA's ratification.
The USTR asked for the comments in July to assess the viability of the pending
agreement amid growing protectionism in the Democratic Congress and the worst
recession in decades.
Congressional Democrats are concerned about a backlash from trade unions, a
political power base for Democrats, amid rising fears over possible job cuts.
While meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in June, Obama agreed to
make efforts to "chart a way forward," and said he will seek the appropriate
"political timing" for submission of the KORUS FTA to Congress "once we have
resolved some of the substantive issues."
Another key element of the USTR's review of the pact is the Korea-European FTA,
which was recently signed, and is expected to take effect early next year, U.S.
officials said.
Tami Overby, vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said recently that
the KORUS FTA "should be ratified immediately" to "help solidify U.S. interests
in the region," fearing the U.S. has been losing ground in the Asia-Pacific
region.
"The region is not waiting to engage other countries. Korea in particular is very
actively moving toward concluding FTAs and creating more opportunities for their
citizens," she said. "The U.S. has a critical opportunity to ratify the KORUS
FTA. But while we are waiting, Korea has already concluded an EU FTA and
initialing it early in the new year and possibly enforce it next summer. What
this means to American companies in Korea is they are going to be disadvantaged."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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