South Korea reiterates rice should be excluded from free trade talks with US
The Hankyoreh | Seoul | 5 September 2006
South Korea reiterates rice should be excluded from free trade talks with U.S.
South Korea insisted Monday its rice market should be exempt from a proposed free trade agreement with the United States, inviting a showdown on one of the most sensitive areas of talks between the economic powerhouses.
"There is no change in our government’s position on rice market protection," Kim Jong-hoon, Seoul’s chief negotiator for the talks, told Yonhap News Agency as he arrived in Seattle for a third round of free trade talks with the U.S. this week.
"Though I am aware of some news reports (about the U.S. demand for opening the rice market), we will make our best efforts to exclude rice from the free trade agreement," Kim said.
The two sides hope to wrap up the negotiations by the end of this year, giving lawmakers time to ratify an accord before the U.S. president’s "fast track" authority runs out in June. The authority allows U.S. officials to conclude a free trade agreement without Congress’s amendments.
They held their second round of talks in July in Seoul, but the negotiations ended in a stalemate as the U.S. boycotted the final day, dismissing South Korea’s new drug-pricing policy as discriminatory.
Last week, the U.S. demanded South Korea phase out tariffs on agricultural goods, including rice, over the next 10 years, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The demand illustrated a fundamental difference between the two nations in exploring ways to seal an accord. South Korea has said it will try to protect the country’s debt-ridden farmers, while the U.S. has urged South Korea to remove its protection on rice.
South Korean and U.S. trade officials haven’t formally discussed rice so far, but the cash crop is on the agenda of the third round of free trade negotiations in Seattle on Sept. 6-9, according to the ministry’s statement.
Currently, South Korea imposes an average tariff of 52 percent on imported agricultural goods, about four times higher than the U.S. level. The U.S. wants South Korea to reduce the agricultural tariffs to zero under a free trade deal.
Kim added his government will continue to urge the U.S. to include goods made in a North Korean industrial park of Kaesong in a free trade accord, saying South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and his U.S. counterpart, George W. Bush, may discuss the matter at their summit in Washington next week.
The South Korean president will visit the U.S. on Sept. 12-14 as part of a 14-day official trip, with stops in Greece, Romania and Finland.
Asked whether the two leaders will discuss the so-called Kaesong matter during the summit, Kim said, "The Kaesong issue will probably be on the agenda for the summit." Fifteen South Korean garment, kitchenware and other labor-intensive companies are in operation at the North Korean border city, located just north of the heavily fortified demilitarized zone. When fully expanded by 2012, the park will have several hundred South Korean plants with as many as 750,000 North Korean workers, according to Seoul officials.
South Korea wants the U.S. to allow preferential tariffs on the Kaesong-made goods, aimed at improving inter-Korean economic cooperation. However, the U.S. has ruled out the idea, saying a free trade accord would not cover goods produced from "a third country." Kim called prospects for the third round "tough." "I think we are expected to face many difficulties during the third round in narrowing gaps," he said.
During the third round, South Korea and the U.S. will hold talks on 19 categories, including agriculture, services and autos.
After this week’s round, negotiators will resume work in November and December.
South Korea is the U.S.’s seventh-largest trading partner.
Two-way trade last year reached US$72 billion, with South Korea enjoying a surplus of $16 billion.
About 60 South Korean farmers and factory workers and hundreds of their American supporters have planned a weeklong series of demonstrations to protest the talks. South Korean farmers strongly oppose a trade deal with the U.S., saying it would threaten their livelihoods if adopted.
As many as 2,000 protesters, mostly from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, are expected to participate in a rally planned on Wednesday to coincide with the start of the talks, said Lee Chang-geun, manager of the international affairs department at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, in Seattle.
Some South Korean farmers and factory workers began their actions by explaining why they oppose a deal with the U.S. at a peaceful demonstration to mark Labor Day here.
Seattle, United States, Sept. 4 (Yonhap News)
