[CTC] Jan. 2009 Secretary-designate Clinton Calls for renegotiating KORUS FTA

[Tim Robertson]

*If U.S. legislators ratify the pending KORUS FTA in its current form, she
argued, the United States stands to lose its leverage to counter Korea's
non-tariff barriers. She added that if the Korean government also wishes to
renegotiate some provisions, the incoming Obama administration would fully
cooperate with Seoul to address them. ``We will talk with Korea honestly and
fairly,'' she said.*
*
Clinton Indicates Renegotiation of KORUS FTA*

By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
There are growing signs that the United States, under the incoming Barak
Obama administration, will try to renegotiate portions of the Korea-U.S.
free trade agreement (KORUS FTA), but the Korean government has reiterated
its position that further renegotiations would not be possible.

Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said Wednesday that ``it would be
impossible" to renegotiate the bilateral trade pact.

Kim also reportedly said the auto trade figure between the two countries is
not as skewed as some U.S. officials believe when one considers domestic
sales of GM-Daewoo, which is majority-owned by U.S. automaker General
Motors.

According to U.S. Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, there are
some provisions in the pending agreement that failed to secure fair trade
conditions between the two economies. She argued the provisions needed to be
renegotiated to ensure fair bilateral trade practices in the future.

Clinton offered her comments in a written response submitted to the U.S.
Senate prior to her confirmation hearing.

In it, she said incoming U.S. President Obama has been opposing the
Korea-U.S. pact, which was negotiated and signed by the George W. Bush
administration. She added that Obama hasn't changed his position on the
trade issue and continues to oppose the deal in its current form.

She stressed, however, that the scope of her concern was limited to only
certain parts of the pending agreement. The dispute over free trade, she
also added, would not in any way influence the longstanding Korea-U.S.
bilateral alliance.

Clinton argued that some provisions, including those concerning the services
sector, could help U.S. companies. But the Bush administration failed to
reach a fair trade agreement involving automobile sales, she noted. ``U.S.
trade representatives failed to secure fair trade conditions related to
automobiles, trucks and other products.''

If U.S. legislators ratify the pending KORUS FTA in its current form, she
argued, the United States stands to lose its leverage to counter Korea's
non-tariff barriers. She added that if the Korean government also wishes to
renegotiate some provisions, the incoming Obama administration would fully
cooperate with Seoul to address them. ``We will talk with Korea honestly and
fairly,'' she said.

The former presidential nominee has long been a vocal critic of the pending
bilateral deal. During her presidential campaign last year, she strongly
criticized the agreement, saying that President Bush ``hastily signed the
Korea Free Trade Agreement before his fast track authority expired,'' and
that, ``the consequence was a deal that will cost America jobs. Korea has a
long history of blocking access to its car market, and yet the agreement has
weak provisions for prying that market open.''

``At the same time,'' she added, ``the agreement further opens our car
market to Korean vehicles.''

There are also signs emerging that the new 111th U.S. Congress could favor
taking another look at the pending trade pact.

U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus recently distributed a
report to newly elected senators, according to news accounts. The committee
could play a critical role in helping ratify the trade agreement,
functioning as a sort of gateway for U.S. legislators before granting
approval.

The report, titled ``Trade Issues in the 111th Congress,'' observed that the
KORUS FTA would be the most meaningful trade deal for the United States
since the signing of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but added
that a number of issues could complicate U.S. legislators' efforts to review
and approve the measures.

It mentioned, in particular, U.S. concerns over the auto trade and U.S. beef
exports.

michaelha at koreatimes.co.kr


-- 
Tim Robertson, Director
California Fair Trade Coalition

2017 Mission St., Suite 200
San Francisco, CA  94110
(415)255-7291(o)
(415)987-4870(c)

The California Fair Trade Coalition is a pro-trade, pro-democracy coalition
of labor, immigrant rights, environmental, faith, family farm and women's
interests working towards a balanced approach to international trade. Our
goal is to reform U.S. trade policy and to promote economic justice, human
rights, healthy communities, and a sound environment.
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