USTR 2009 Trade Policy Agenda and 2008 Annual Report

미 무역대표부(USTR) 2009년 연례보고서 전문 파일입니다.(파일 용량이 2MB를 초과하여 원문을 볼 수 있는 인터넷주소만 아래에 적어 두었습니다)

농업분야의 쇠고기 부문에서 한국을 제외한 일본, 대만, 홍콩, 중국 등 동아시아 국가들은 미국 기업과 정부가 요구한 국제수역사무국(OIE) 기준에 따른 쇠고기 수입을 여전히 거부하고 있는 것이 특징적으로 눈에 띄입니다. 이와 관련하여 미국 정부가 이들 동아시아 국가들을 WTO에 제소하였다거나 제소할 예정이라는 내용도 전혀 언급되어 있지 않습니다. 다만 2009년에도 계속 수입개방 압력을 행사하겠다는 정도의 수준입니다.

노무현-이명박 정부가 강력하게 추진한 신자유주의 정책으로 인해 해가 거듭될 수록 USTR 연례보고서에서 미국의 한국관련 불만사항이 줄어들고 있는 것도 특징적으로 드러나고 있습니다.

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2009 Trade Policy Agenda and 2008 Annual Report

출처 : http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2009/
2009_Trade_Policy_Agenda/Section_Index.html

           Table of Contents

List of Frequently Used Acronyms
The President’s Trade Policy Agenda for 2009

I. Overview of the 2009 Agenda
The President’s 2008 Annual Report on the Trade Agreements Program

II. World Trade Organization
III. Regional Negotiations and Bilateral Negotiations
IV. Other Multilateral Activities
V. Trade Enforcement Activities
VI. Trade Policy Development
Annex I
Annex II
Annex III
Full Text of 2009 Trade Policy Agenda and 2008 Annual Report
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p 172

4. Republic of Korea

FTA:

In 2008, the U.S. Government continued to work with Congress to secure approval of the United States –Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which is the United States’ most commercially significant free trade agreement in 16 years. Once approved and implemented, this agreement would provide significant economic, political, and strategic benefits for both sides. The U.S. International Trade Commission estimates that the reduction of Korean tariffs and tariff-rate quotas on goods alone would add $10 billion – $12 billion to annual U.S. GDP and around $10 billion to annual merchandise exports.

Under the FTA, nearly 95 percent of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products will become dutyfree within three years of the date the agreement enters into force, and most remaining tariffs will be eliminated within 10 years. In agriculture, the FTA will eliminate immediately or phase out tariffs and quotas on a broad range of products, with almost two-thirds of Korea’s agriculture imports from the United States becoming duty-free immediately upon entry into force. In services, the FTA provides meaningful market access commitments that extend across virtually all major service sectors, including greater and more secure access for international delivery services and the opening of the Korean market for foreign legal consulting services. The FTA makes groundbreaking achievement in the area of financial services and will increase access to the Korean market, as well as ensure greater transparency and fair treatment, for U.S. suppliers of financial services.

The FTA goes well beyond eliminating tariff barriers – it also addresses non-tariff barriers in a wide range of sectors and includes state-of-the-art protections for investors and intellectual property rights, groundbreaking competition policy provisions, strong labor and environment safeguards, and far-reaching commitments related to transparency and regulatory due process. The KORUS FTA will also provide U.S. suppliers with greater access to the Korean government procurement market.

In addition to strengthening the United States-Korea economic partnership, the KORUS FTA will help to solidify the two countries’ long-standing alliance – serving as a pillar of bilateral relations for generations to come. In addition, as the first U.S. FTA with a North Asian partner, the KORUS FTA promises to serve as a model for trade agreements for the rest of the region, and will underscore the U.S. commitment to and engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.

Other Developments:

After the signing of the FTA, regular bilateral trade consultation meetings, which were suspended during he FTA negotiations, resumed in September 2007. Designed to address potential bilateral trade issues as hey emerge, the bilateral trade consultation meetings, led by USTR with participation from the full range f U.S. international economic agencies, serve as the primary forum for discussing trade issues and are ugmented by a broad range of senior-level policy discussions. In 2008, bilateral trade consultations were eld on three occasions. The United States worked closely with Korea during these consultations to
address and resolve issues related to the manufacturing, agriculture, and services sectors.

On April 18, 2008, the United States and Korea agreed to a protocol that defines conditions for the mportation of U.S. beef to Korea and provides for a full reopening of the Korean beef market. The rotocol is fully consistent with OIE guidelines and will permit all U.S. beef and beef products from cattle f all ages to be exported to Korea, with appropriate Specified Risk Materials (SRMs), as defined by the OIE, removed.

On June 20, 2008, Korean beef importers and U.S. exporters reached a commercial understanding –separate from the April 18 agreement – that only U.S. beef and beef products from cattle less than 30 onths of age will be shipped to Korea, as a transitional measure to improve Korean consumer onfidence in U.S. beef. At the request of U.S. exporters, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) set p a voluntary Quality System Assessment (QSA) Program that will verify that beef from participating lants is from cattle less than 30 months of age. As a result of the April 18 agreement and June 20 commercial understanding, U.S. exports began as of June 26, 2008, and from June to November nearly 280 million worth of U.S. beef and beef products has been exported to Korea, with Korea now the fourth argest export market in terms of value for all of 2008 for U.S. beef and beef products, after Mexico, Canada, and Japan.

The United States also worked closely with Korea to address U.S. industry concerns that Korea’s energy efficiency regulations may have resulted in under-reporting of energy consumption in Koreanmanufactured refrigerators. As a result, the Korean Government adopted on April 30, 2008 the international energy test standard for refrigerators to address this problem. In addition, the Korean government has worked closely with stakeholders and the U.S. Government in implementing this standard to ensure that the new regulations do not unfairly disadvantage U.S. manufacturers.

Furthermore, the United States and Korea worked cooperatively in 2008 to achieve progress in a number of areas related to technical standards, such as power cord adaptors for laptop computers and controlled access system technology for satellite and Internet protocol television, to ensure that U.S. technology providers continue to enjoy a level playing field and unfettered access to the important Korean market.

In close consultation with the U.S. Government and industry stakeholders, Korea plemented in July 2008, amendments to its system for certifying compliance with automotive emissions standards that create an improved, streamlined process for U.S. and other foreign automakers. Under the amended regulations, certifications are based on manufacturer-provided test data, eliminating the need for incountry testing or tests witnessed by Korean regulators. This change also benefits U.S. suppliers of offroad vehicles, such as lift trucks and excavators.

In an important market-opening development, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) voted on December 10 to remove the requirement that all mobile phones sold in Korea include the Wireless Internet Protocol for Interoperability (WIPI), effective April 1, 2009. WIPI is a Korea-developed mobile platform intended to ensure cross-carrier interoperability of downloaded content. The Korean government in 2005 had mandated that WIPI be installed in all mobile phones sold in Korea. KCC’s decision to remove this requirement is a significant liberalization of the Korean telecommunications market, making it far easier for foreign handset makers to access the Korean market and providing Korean consumers with more choice. The United States had consistently urged Korea to eliminate the WIPI mandate and to more fully embrace technology neutrality in telecom regulation.

The Korean government also worked constructively with U.S. publishers of academic and scientific journals to begin to address the publishers’ concerns about fraudulent practices in Korea’s national procurement system, which makes purchases of the journals on behalf of national universities and research institutes. Korea’s Public Procurement System agreed to implement changes to its standard terms and conditions for contracts that should help to maintain the integrity of the contract process and prevent fraud, but continued monitoring is needed to ensure adequate enforcement of the provisions occurs and a decline in fraudulent practices takes place.

The United States and Korea also worked together to address a number of issues related to Korea’s customs regulations. Korea modified its individual country-of-origin labeling requirement for oranges to allow labeling on the smallest retail packaging unit, and extended this exemption to bananas and durians as well. Korea also reconsidered its initial decision to reclassify certain solar panels containing photovoltaic cells and diodes to a tariff category which incurs a duty and announced its decision to continue to classify these products in a duty-free tariff line. The United States also worked with Korea to clarify marking requirements for goods made in Puerto Rico.

Finally, the United States and Korea cooperated extensively in a wide range of multilateral fora to advance open markets. Korea was a strong partner of the United States in the WTO Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations, supporting the push for ambitious liberalization. Korea has been an active participant in efforts to strengthen international IPR enforcement by joining the United States and others in negotiating an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). In APEC, the two countries worked closely to promote high-quality FTAs in the Asia-Pacific region.

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10. Japan

c. Sectoral Issues – Agriculture

Beef: The United States interacted with Japan at all levels, including the ministerial level, to urge the full reopening of Japan’s market to U.S. beef and beef products in a manner consistent with internationally accepted guidelines established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). By limiting the import of U.S. beef and beef products to animals 20 months and younger, Japan continued to apply import standards not based on internationally accepted science and that are inconsistent with the OIE determination that the United States falls under “controlled risk” for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

Beef exports to Japan over the first eleven months of 2008 totaled $359 million (approximately 69,944 metric tons), an increase of 58 percent and 61 percent respectively over the same period in 2007. This level of trade suggests that Japanese consumers now accept U.S. beef.

However, the Japanese government’s restrictions limiting the supply of U.S. beef will continue to prevent U.S. beef producers from recapturing a market share that, in 2003, was valued at approximately $1.4 billion (376,000 metric tons).

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p 193

Taiwan

a. Beef

Throughout 2008, the United States continued to press Taiwan to provide market access for the full range of U.S. beef and beef products in a manner consistent with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and the May 2007 OIE designation of the United States as “controlled risk” for BSE. However, as of the end of 2008, Taiwan had not yet opened its markets in a manner consistent with the May 2007 OIE determination. After partially reopening the market to U.S. deboned beef from cattle less than 30 months of age in April of 2005, Taiwan re-imposed its import suspension in June 2005, after the discovery of a second case of BSE in the United States. On January 25, 2006, Taiwan again lifted its ban on U.S. deboned beef from cattle less than 30 months of
age. In addition to beef and beef products, Taiwan also maintains BSE-related import suspensions on U.S.-origin non-ruminant products such as poultry and porcine meals for the use in animal feed. Taiwan also maintains a BSE-related import suspension on U.S.-origin protein-free tallow and yellow grease (ruminant-origin products) for use in animal feed and pet food while continuing to allow importation of these products for industrial use and human consumption. Taiwan’s BSE-related import restrictions on protein-free tallow and yellow grease are not consistent with OIE guidelines which specifically state that these products should be freely traded regardless of the BSE status of the exporting country. The United
States has been engaging with Taiwan to fully open the market for all these products on a scientific basis.

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p 195

Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region)

b. Beef

Hong Kong banned imports of U.S. beef in December 2003 following the first case of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). After two years of intensive efforts on the part of the U.S.
Government, the Hong Kong government announced the partial reopening of its market to deboned beef from animals less than 30 months of age, with numerous restrictions, in December 2005. These excessive restrictions, however, have discouraged most qualified U.S. beef exporters from shipping to Hong Kong.

It is estimated that the two-year ban (2004-2005) cost U.S. exporters approximately $160 million. World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines provide for scientifically-based conditions under which all beef and beef products from animals of any age can be safely traded from all countries regardless of BSE status as long as the appropriate Specified Risk Materials (SRMs) are removed. In May 2007, the OIE classified the United States in a category of “controlled risk” for BSE. The United States continues to press Hong Kong to normalize trade and implement import requirements for U.S. beef and beef products on the basis of science, the OIE guidelines, and the U.S. controlled risk classification.

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p 179

9. People’s Republic of China

iv. Agriculture

While U.S. exports of agricultural commodities to China continued to perform strongly in 2008 and largely fulfill the potential envisioned by U.S. negotiators during the years leading up to China’s WTO accession, China remains among the least transparent and predictable of the world’s major markets for agricultural products, largely because of selective intervention in the market by China’s regulatory authorities. As in past years, capricious practices by Chinese customs and quarantine agencies can delay or halt shipments of agricultural products into China, while SPS measures with questionable scientific bases and a generally opaque regulatory regime frequently bedevil traders in agricultural commodities, who require as much predictability and transparency as possible in order to preserve margins and reduce
the already substantial risks involved in agricultural trade.

In 2008, the principal targets of questionable practices by China’s regulatory authorities were poultry and pork, and anticipated growth in U.S. exports of these products was not realized. In addition, China continued to block the importation of U.S. beef and beef products, well over one year after these products had been declared safe to trade under international scientific guidelines.

In 2009, the United States will continue to pursue vigorous bilateral engagement with China in order to obtain progress on its outstanding concerns. The United States also will not hesitate to take other actions to resolve its concerns if dialogue fails, including WTO dispute settlement, where appropriate.