[CTC] South Korea, U.S. at Odds Over Next Steps on Free Trade Deal Revisions

Tue Aug 22 14:14:15 PDT 2017

Two articles below...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/s-korea-says-no-to-us-request-to-discuss-renegotiating-fta/2017/08/22/a46af1d0-8722-11e7-96a7-d178cf3524eb_story.html?utm_term=.d046171f7070 <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/s-korea-says-no-to-us-request-to-discuss-renegotiating-fta/2017/08/22/a46af1d0-8722-11e7-96a7-d178cf3524eb_story.html?utm_term=.d046171f7070>

S. Korea says no to US request to discuss renegotiating FTA

 <>By Youkyung Lee | AP August 22 at 6:56 AM
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s top trade negotiator said Tuesday that Seoul will not discuss renegotiation of the free trade agreement with the U.S. without first looking into what is really causing the U.S. trade imbalance.

Trade Minister Kim Hyung-chong said Seoul proposed a joint study with Washington to evaluate the impact of the 5-year-old bilateral trade deal and the cause of the U.S. trade deficit.

“We did not agree to the unilateral proposal from the U.S. to amend the Korea-U.S. FTA,” Kim told reporters in a briefing after a talk with U.S. trade representatives. “We made our position clear that investigation, analysis and evaluation of the impact of the Korea-U.S. FTA must be preceded.”

The two sides found they had different views on the impact of the free trade deal and could not reach any agreement during the talks, he added. Kim said Seoul will be waiting for Washington’s response to its proposal for the joint study.

The countries’ trade officials held their first talks in Seoul, in what Washington hoped would lead to discussing amendment or modification of the trade deal that took effect five years ago under President Barack Obama.

The Trump administration criticized the pact with its ally, saying that the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea had nearly doubled since the deal went into effect. The U.S. trade deficit with South Korea widened from $13.2 billion in 2011 to $27.6 billion last year.

But South Korea said the deal has been beneficial to both countries. The U.S. runs a trade surplus with South Korea in services such as banking and tourism, estimated at $10.7 billion in 2016. South Korea also believes that the FTA is not the cause of the U.S. trade imbalance, and that other, complex factors in the global economy are to blame.

The Trump administration is seeking to renegotiate the trade deal with South Korea as part of its broader efforts to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. It has begun an effort to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

South Korea is the sixth-largest trading partner for the U.S., while the U.S. is South Korea’s second-largest trading partner.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/08/22/business/22reuters-southkorea-usa-trade.html <https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/08/22/business/22reuters-southkorea-usa-trade.html>

South Korea, U.S. at Odds Over Next Steps on Free Trade Deal Revisions
By REUTERS
AUG. 22, 2017, 1:33 P.M. E.D.T.
SEOUL — South Korean and U.S. officials failed to agree on Tuesday on how to move forward on discussions over their five-year-old free trade agreement that Washington is seeking to change to help cut its trade deficit with Asia's fourth-largest economy.

A one-day video-conference between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and the trade pact's joint steering committee ended without a decision on the next steps for possible revisions.

"We have found the two sides have different views on the free trade agreement and have not reached any agreement," Kim told a news conference after the meeting.

A USTR spokeswoman said proposals were exchanged and conversations on the topic will continue.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in April that the agreement known as KORUS was a "horrible deal" and pledged to renegotiate or terminate the accord.

In a statement issued in Washington, Lighthizer said that since KORUS went into effect in 2012, the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled to $27.6 billion last year, and that Seoul's non-tariff barriers to U.S. goods were a problem.

"Unfortunately, too many American workers have not benefited from the agreement," Lighthizer said. "USTR has long pressed the Korean government to address burdensome regulations which often exclude U.S. firms or artificially set prices for American intellectual property. This negotiation offers us an opportunity to resolve these and other barriers."

Kim said Seoul had stressed that the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea was not the result of the bilateral trade deal and proposed a joint study to examine the effects of the agreement.

The trade minister said the U.S. side had not brought up the possibility of terminating the trade pact during the talks, adding that South Korea would wait for the U.S. review of Tuesday's discussions and its proposals.

The United States has been keen to address trade imbalances with South Korea, particularly for U.S.-produced vehicles, since President Trump has emphasized the imbalance in auto trade.

In 2016, South Korea's car exports to the United States stood at $16.2 billion, while its imports of U.S. cars were $1.74 billion, a trade ministry official said based on data from the Korea Trade International Association.

Seoul maintains that the deal has been mutually beneficial, with exports of American beef to South Korea rising, saying last month that it would not necessarily renegotiate terms.

(Additional reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Phil Berlowitz)
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