[CTC] Wal-Mart, CEOs Push for Passage of Korea FTA

[Citizens Trade Campaign]

Ballmer, Immelt Urge Obama to Move Quickly on Korea Trade Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Chief executive officers of Microsoft Corp., General Electric
Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other large U.S. companies urged President
Barack Obama to move quickly on his pledge to pass a free-trade agreement
with South Korea.

"Decisive and quick progress on the Korea agreement is especially vital
given that the European Union and Korea have signed their own trade pact
which, once implemented, will put U.S. companies and their workers at an
even greater disadvantage," the executives wrote in a letter to Obama today.

The letter was signed by Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Jeffrey Immelt of GE,
Wal-Mart's Michael Duke and nine other chief executives. The pending
agreement with South Korea, which was signed in 2007, is opposed by unions
and Ford Motor Co., which argues that the Asian nation keeps unfair
technical barriers to its exports while enjoying free access to the U.S.
market.

The executives said the administration's vow to make progress on automobile
and beef exports to Korea should "be accomplished quickly and take into
account the fact that progress on each of these issues has already been
made."

The Obama administration vowed to alter the pact's auto provisions in order
to address the concerns of Ford, the unions, and House Ways and Means
Committee Chairman Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that failure to enact the accord with
the world's 14th-largest economy means the loss of $35 billion in exports
and 345,000 jobs. South Korea signed a rival agreement with the European
Union last year that calls for 99 percent of commerce to be duty-free within
five years. That deal is awaiting ratification.

The trade negotiations have security implications and are a sign of U.S.
commitment to South Korea as a critical strategic ally in Asia. Tensions in
the region remain elevated after an international panel last month blamed
North Korea for sinking the South Korean warship Cheonan in March.

Obama is aiming to wrap up efforts on the pact in time for a summit of the
Group of 20 leaders in Korea in November.


--Editors 


 
<http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/07/another-big-biz-letter-to-o
bama-pushes-for-more-action-on-trade-agreements.html> Another Big Biz Letter
to Obama Pushes for More Action on Trade Agreements 


ABC News (blog) 

Signatories include Harold McGraw III of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,
Jim Owens of Caterpillar, Jeffrey Immelt of GE, Steve Ballmer of Microsoft,
... 

 

 
<http://www.koreaherald.com/common/redirect.jsp?news_id=20100715000670&categ
ory_id=> US CEOs press Obama on Korea FTA 

The Korea Herald 

Chief executive officers of Microsoft Corp., General Electric Co., Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. and other large US companies urged President Barack Obama to
move ... 

  _____  

	
...meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak at the G-20 in Toronto,
Canada, last month, President Obama said the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement
is "the right thing to do for our country, it is the right thing to do for
Korea. It will strengthen our commercial ties and it will create enormous
potential economic benefits to create jobs."

more by
<http://news.google.com/news/quote?pz=1&cf=q&ned=us&hl=en&qsid=tPjE5CDNzMicm
M> Barack Obama - 20 hours ago -
<http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/07/another-big-biz-letter-to-o
bama-pushes-for-more-action-on-trade-agreements.html> ABC News (blog) (508
occurrences)

	
  _____  


 <http://www.rollcall.com/news/48331-1.html?mostemailed=1> Big Business to
Congress: Approve Stalled Trade Deals 

Roll Call (subscription) -
<http://news.google.com/news/search?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=author:%22Mat
thew+Murray%22&scoring=n> Matthew Murray 

Ahead of President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to South Korea, large
corporations such as Caterpillar, Citibank, Coca-Cola and General ... 

 

 
<http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=104962&code=Ne2&category=2
> US Ambassador to Korea Says Obama Aims to Wrap up Efforts on KORUS FTA by
November 

Arirang News 

US Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens says US President Barack Obama is
aiming to wrap up efforts to ratify the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement by
November ... 

 
<http://news.google.com/news/story?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=obama+korea&nc
l=dLz25kSFu0rdldMQshoNTHoxZnejM> All 12 related articles >

: James Callan, Larry Liebert

 

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