Tough US-Korea trade talks end in disappointment
Tough US-Korea trade talks end in disappointment
Sat Sep 9, 2006
By Daisuke Wakabayashi
SEATTLE (Reuters) - U.S. and South Korean officials expressed disappointment on Saturday at the progress made during four days of tough trade negotiations aimed at clinching a proposed free trade agreement between the two countries.
The two sides met since Wednesday for their third round of talks, a "give-and-take" phase of negotiations, in a bid to draw closer to an agreement that would be the biggest U.S. trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994.
"Frankly, I would have hoped to have made more progress this week," Wendy Cutler, the chief U.S. negotiator, said at a news conference.
"I remain determined to press forward and I think it’s accurate that my counterpart Ambassador Kim (Hyun-chong) feels the same way."
The U.S. said it remains committed to completing the so-called KORUS agreement by year-end with various working groups continuing discussions before the next official round of trade talks.
U.S. farm and business groups expect to increase their exports under the pact, which would phase out tariffs and other barriers to trade between the two countries.
But many South Korean farmers and union members in both countries fear the agreement will cost them their jobs. This latest round of negotiations also drew protests, albeit mostly peaceful ones, from U.S. and Korean opponents of the pact.
Earlier Saturday, Seattle police arrested 15 protesters, including nine South Korean citizens, for attempting to prevent trade representatives from entering the negotiation site. No one was injured.
"We have a duty to stand up for working people. The trade ministers obviously do not understand the destructive consequences of their deals," said Jon Brier, an organizer with the International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union.
South Korea is the world’s 10th-largest economy and the seventh-largest trading partner of the United States, with two-way trade totaling about $72 billion last year.
SWEETENED OFFER
Earlier this week, South Korean officials rejected Washington’s offer for lowering tariffs and other trade barriers in textiles, agriculture and manufacturing.
The U.S. side came back with an improved offer for textiles and industrial tariffs, Cutler said.
"This demonstrates the U.S. commitment to the negotiations and our objective to move them forward," said Cutler, noting the two sides made progress in the areas of environmental protection, labor laws and trade in services.
Negotiators failed to make any concrete advances in talks regarding pharmaceuticals, but Cutler sounded upbeat about ongoing discussions in the sector.
The United States is concerned that new South Korean regulations to rein in the cost of Seoul’s national health care system will make it hard for U.S. drug companies to sell new medicines in the fast-growing Korean market.
The automotive sector, Cutler said, is one area where Seoul could improve its tariff and nontariff measures in order to increase U.S. automotive imports.
Many U.S. lawmakers complain that South Korea has not honored commitments to open its market to more U.S. cars, while South Korean exports to the United States soared.
(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer in Washington)
