[CTC] Currency Reform Fair Trade Act (H.R. 2378)

[Citizens Trade Campaign]

Akaka, Inouye, Webb, Feinstein, Begich, Kerry and of course Lieberman and Cantwell.
 
Lori Wallach
Director, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
+1 (202)546-4996  /  fax +1 (202)547-7369
http://www.tradewatch.org 
Visit our blog http://www.eyesontrade.org 

>>> Bryan Buchanan 7/21/2010 9:37 AM >>>

Agence France-Presse
 
Key US senators seek progress on S.Korea trade pact
(AFP) - 17 hours ago
WASHINGTON - A group of senior US senators offered President Barack Obama their "strong support" Tuesday as he forges ahead with a free trade deal with South Korea opposed by some of his Democratic allies.
"We write to applaud your call for a prompt resolution of outstanding issues to the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) this year and to reiterate our strong support for such action," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Obama.
The group included Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, Senate Agriculture Committee Blanche Lincoln, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye -- all Democrats.
It also included Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee; Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee; and East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Jim Webb, a Democrat.
Democratic Senators Mark Warner, Daniel Akaka, Maria Cantwell, and Mark Begich were also part of the group, which threw its weight behind Obama's vow to resolve difficult disputes holding up congressional approval for the deal.
"We share your commitment to addressing the outstanding issues with the Agreement, including trade in beef and autos, and securing congressional approval in an expeditious manner," the lawmakers wrote.
The group said approving the agreement would bolster ties with South Korea, and send a message to North Korea, while failure to approve the pact "could have wide-ranging repercussions for US engagement and influence" in the region.
"We look forward to your prompt submission of the Agreement to the Congress, and we stand by to assist you in resolving any outstanding issues in order to ensure that this Agreement garners widespread support and is approved by the Congress in an expeditious fashion," they wrote.
But organized labor, a critical support base for Obama's Democratic Party with critical November mid-term elections looming, and several Democratic lawmakers have vowed to fight the deal which they say would hurt workers.
The deal would be the largest for the United States since the the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, which came into force on New Year's Day in 1994.
The United States and South Korea completed painstaking negotiations in 2007 but neither nation's legislature has ratified it.
Obama has ordered his administration to finalize the deal before a Group of 20 economic summit in Seoul in November so that he can present it to congress in the few months thereafter despite concerns from US cattlemen and carmakers.
South Korea said in late June that it would reopen talks soon with the United States on a major free trade deal, but rejected complaints it unfairly restricts US beef and auto exports.
South Korea shipped about 700,000 cars to the United States in 2007 while just 5,000 moved in the opposite direction, official figures show.
Analysts in Seoul say the figures exclude more than 125,000 vehicles made by a General Motors subsidiary in Korea while including vehicles made by a Hyundai plant in Alabama.
The free trade deal has also stirred some controversy in South Korea due to public fears over the safety of US beef.
Despite angry protests from farmers and activists, South Korea in 2008 agreed to ease restrictions imposed over fears of mad cow diseases and to resume imports of beef from US cattle aged less than 30 months.
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