April 2, 2007

 

US, South Korea work to save extended free trade talks 

 

 

The US and South Korea worked Sunday (Apr 1) to save a proposed free trade agreement in extended high-level talks after failing to conclude the deal by an original US-imposed deadline.

 

"They're still looking at options and figuring out if they can do it or not," said Steve Norton, spokesman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, of the negotiators.

 

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and Deputy US Trade Representative Karan Bhatia have been meeting since Monday at a Seoul hotel to bridge gaps in contentious sectors such as autos and agriculture.

 

If they succeed, the accord to slash tariffs and other barriers would the biggest for Washington since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and the biggest ever for South Korea.

 

The two sides said Saturday morning after an all night session that they needed more time and agreed to finish the talks by 1 am Monday (1600 GMT Sunday) in Seoul, corresponding to a noon Sunday deadline in Washington.

 

The original US-imposed deadline was midnight Friday in Seoul.

 

Concern over the date of the effort, which began almost 10 months ago, was raised Friday, when the White House hinted that the negotiations could fail when spokesman Dana Perino described the talks as "not going well".

 

A USTR spokesman in Washington said Saturday that the US must wrap up the deal by Sunday in the US because that is the deadline to notify Congress that US President George W. Bush intends to sign a deal under his expiring Trade Promotion Authority.

Any final deal will be subject to approval by both Congress and South Korea's National Assembly.

 

South Korea has refused to discuss including its 8.5 trillion won (US$9.1 billion) rice market in the deal, claiming the staple food is a "sensitive sector". Seoul has warned that it was ready to walk away from the deal if the US pushed too hard.

 

Other bottlenecks are trade in autos, Seoul's demand that goods made in a small North Korean industrial zone by South Korean companies be included and the status of US beef, absent from South Korea markets for over three years after mad cow disease was discovered in the US.

 

Government officials on both sides say an agreement would boost economic ties between two countries, which already do more than US$75 billion in trade a year.

 

South Korean opponents, including labor, farm and activist groups, claim an influx of cheaper US imports will lead to job losses and potentially damage livelihoods.