KORUS FTA Update

11/30/2010

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon are scheduled to meet November 30^th and December 1^st in Columbia, Maryland to discuss the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).   On November 11^th, President Obama and South Korean President Lee announced that they had not achieved consensus during the November trade talks, which they had hoped to conclude before the G-20 summit. Both leaders are facing political pressure to only make a deal if it favors their nation. President Obama received support from leading members of the House Ways and Means Committee for walking away from an unsatisfactory agreement in Korea, while Korea’s opposition parties oppose additional talks.

Automobile and beef access are two major issues of contention in the talks, making reaching a consensus difficult. The United States has pushed for concessions regarding non-tariff barriers to automobile access in Korea, and for U.S. beef access to South Korea to be extended to cattle over 30 months of age. U.S. national beef groups such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the American Meat Institute (AMI) are interested in seeing the KORUS FTA approved quickly, as it removes Korea’s import duties on beef. Despite having   made achieving full beef market access a priority, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) has indicated that he may be willing to accept a pathway to full market opening instead of immediate market access. U.S. trade officials have said that they would only agree to a trade deal that contains improved terms for automakers.

Carol Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, cautioned that the USTR’s current objective is to advance negotiations, not to complete a deal by December 1^st.

For further information on the KORUS trade negotiations, see Autos and Beef Impede U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.