Free trade talks set for difficult renegotiations

Kim Jong-hoon, left, Korea’s chief FTA negotiator and his U.S. counterpart, Wendy Cutler, held press briefings yesterday evening at the Foreign Ministry building in central Seoul. [YONHAP/ NEWSIS]

The Bush administration is desperate to conclude the additional negotiations on the Korea-United States free trade pact by June 30 when the trade promotion authority expires. A TPA gives the president authority to negotiate trade agreements that the Congress can approve or disapprove in their entirety, but not amend.
“Our hope is that these provisions can be put into the agreement in time for the signing scheduled on June 30,” said Wendy Cutler, a United States Trade Representative and the head negotiator for the Korus FTA, during a press briefing yesterday evening at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.
Korea, however, will not rush its negotiations, said Kim Jong-hoon, the head negotiator for Korea. “Cutler wants June 30,” said Kim. “But, we are not going to hurry. I can’t agree to a strict deadline. Nothing is decided regarding the timeline.”
A Korus FTA was reached in early April and is scheduled to be signed on June 30, but after U.S. Democrats won control they sought a new trade policy with stricter labor and environmental regulations. Hence, last week, the U.S. administration asked Korea for an additional negotiation to modify the agreement in seven areas.
Cutler and her team have visited Korea for a two-day explanatory session which ended yesterday. “We had a good exchange of views,” said Cutler. “Koreans wanted clarifications.”
Although Kim and Cutler would not say there was going to be an actual “renegotiation,” it seemed likely there would be one, but without any concrete dates. “We agreed to consult with our governments and get back within days. It [June 30] is one week away, but when I think back and recall all the challenges, the U.S. and Korea can reach an agreement.”
Some experts are predicting that even though the United States government has a June 30 deadline it’s possible that the U.S. Congress will extend the TPA because congress are the reason the administration asked for a renegotiation in the first place.
Even with a renegotiation on the table, the signing ceremony is still scheduled to take place in Washington on June 30.

By Hwang Young-jin Staff Writer [yhwang@joongang.co.kr]