S. Korea-U.S. FTA talks need to make strides: Cutler
By Kim Deok-hyun
BIG SKY RESORT, Montana, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States are making “steady progress” in their free trade talks but must accelerate the pace to wrap up the negotiations by March at the latest, Washington’s top negotiator said Thursday.
“I don’t have a full picture of the week yet, but based on the reports I’m getting each day, my sense is that we are still making steady progress here in Montana this week,” Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler told Yonhap News Agency in an interview.
Cutler was articulate as she discussed trade remedies and other contentious issues raised by South Korea but said overall, the negotiations were making headway in “the right direction.”
“What’s typical in trade negotiations is that progress in most sensitive areas typically is the slowest,” Cutler said, adding that she wants to see more headway in such key areas as pharmaceuticals and autos.
On Wednesday, South Korean delegates walked out of two committees handling anti-dumping measures and pharmaceuticals after the U.S. turned down their list of “take-it-or-leave-it” proposals regarding trade remedies.
“We are very puzzled by this approach,” Cutler said.
Despite the confrontation, 14 other committees convened as scheduled on Thursday, the penultimate day in this week’s round, for discussions on lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers for relatively less sensitive farm and industrial products, both sides said.
South Korea offered to cut tariffs on 204 industrial items such as plastic products and audio speakers whose value would amount to US$40 million a year, officials said. In return, the U.S. proposed tariff cuts for 206 items, including cameras and pianos worth $60 million a year, they said.
No clear breakthroughs have been reported from four previous rounds, including the fourth in South Korea’s Jeju island in early November which officials said made modest headway.
“We left the Jeju round with momentum … and clearly I’m looking forward to increasing the momentum and accelerating progress in the coming weeks,” Cutler said, referring to one more round scheduled for January.
No more round is scheduled beyond January but Cutler indicated that there would be one more. “We will need to just see if we need another round beyond that. I suspect we will,” she said.
Asked to assess the overall progress made so far, she said, “I’m certain the talks are moving in the right direction. As a result of each negotiation, we are narrowing our differences and moving forward.”
Both sides must wrap up talks by the end of March at the latest before U.S. President George W. Bush loses his “fast-track” trade promotion authority on June 30. The authority requires a 90-day review of a deal by Congress before voting on it without any amendments.
Cutler said she was still hopeful that the talks will be concluded in time for a congressional vote.
“But we have work to cut out for us in coming days and weeks to achieve that objective,” she said.
Cutler again demanded the full opening of South Korea’s beef market to U.S. imports, warning that it could spoil the proposed free trade agreement between the two countries.
The U.S. is “very disappointed” by South Korea’s decision to reject three shipments of U.S. beef, because very small bone fragments the “size of great butter peanuts” were found, she said.
Without elaborating, she said informal discussions were under way to resolve the beef spat.
Rice, the Korean staple, has not been discussed but it would be on the negotiating table at some point, Cutler said. South Korea wants to exclude rice from the deal but Cutler again stressed that there should be no exception.
South Korea is the U.S.’ seventh-largest trading partner with two-way trade totaling $72 billion last year. The U.S. is South Korea’s second-largest export market, taking 17 percent of its total shipments.
An agreement with South Korea would be the U.S.’ largest commercial pact since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.
In a speech at the Montana State University on Tuesday, Cutler likened the process of South Korea-U.S. free trade talks to a “dating” between two would-be lovers.
Asked what’s the current stage of “dating” between the two sides, she described it as “ups and downs.”
kdh@yna.co.kr
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