Congress using 'excuses' to delay ratifying Korean deal: US official
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush's administration accused the Democratic-led Congress on Monday of using a variety of excuses to delay ratifying a free trade deal with key ally South Korea.
Lawmakers have cited barriers restricting US auto imports as among key reasons for reluctance to ratify the free trade agreement -- the biggest trade deal in 15 years.
But US Commerce Under Secretary Christopher Padilla said that rather than taking up the agreement and considering it on merit, the lawmakers were "using a variety of excuses to delay voting" based on reasons "that appear to have very little to do with trade.
"I think that's unfortunate," he said.
Among the most vociferous opponents of the deal signed nearly a year ago between the two governments is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top US automaker Ford Motor Co.
Padilla, who is in charge of international trade, said Pelosi and Ford were barking up the wrong tree by demanding that South Korea provide virtually a market share guarantee for the US auto industry.
"We believe that free trade agreements are designed to provide an equal opportunity to compete, not to provide a guarantee of market share to any company in the United States or any industry in the United States.
"And if that's what the auto companies or the Speaker of the House are expecting from free trade, then their view of free trade is heck of a lot different from ours," he told reporters.
He said that according to his understanding, Ford's position was that "there should be no free trade agreement until they have a guaranteed percentage market share in the Korean market."
Padilla said the FTA, which would add 10 billion dollars to the US economy, had the "unified support" of the local agriculture, manufacturing and service companies.
"And weigh that up against the request by one company for a guaranteed market share in one foreign market, and I think the national interest determination there is pretty clear," he said.
Both Democrats in the presidential race, senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, are also against the US-South Korean deal, unhappy particularly with the auto provisions.
Under the trade agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the two countries, they are to lift tariffs on autos and light trucks.
Seoul also agreed to scale back measures that Washington charged are trade barriers, like a tax based on engine size.
But automakers still charge that those measures fall short of ensuring entry for US-made autos into the South Korean market.
In 2006 for example, Korean manufacturers exported 700,000 vehicles to the US market while only 4,000 vehicles were exported from the United States to South Korea, Congressional aides said.
They also cite an 11-billion-dollar US deficit in automobile trade with South Korea in the same year -- 82 percent of the total US bilateral trade deficit.
Another stumbling block to the free trade deal is reluctance by South Korea to open up to US beef imports.
Seoul agreed last month to lift a ban on American beef imports but delayed the move to consider protest petitions to help ease fears about mad cow disease.
The US-South Korean agreement was the last trade deal signed under the president's trade promotion authority (TPA), also known as "fast-track" authority, which requires Congress to approve or reject the pact without amendment and within strict time limits.
