USTR, Trade Critics Offer Conflicting Assessment of South Korea Trade Pact
The U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) is boosting U.S. agriculture exports, such as dairy, wine, beer, soybean oil, fruits and nuts, while improving South Korean intellectual property rights protections, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in a statement released days shy of the two year anniversary of the trade pact. Despite slow poor economic growth in South Korea, the U.S. is also exporting an increasing number of manufacturing products to South Korea, such as autos, said USTR.
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“Millions are benefiting from the lower tariffs on U.S. exports as well as the progress being made to tackle non-tariff barriers blocking U.S. exports to Korea,” said USTR Michael Froman in the release. “Looking ahead, the United States will be working to ensure the full implementation of the agreement so that U.S. exporters are able to realize even more opportunities.” South Korea continues to impose non-tariff barriers on autos and customs that U.S. trade officials are working to resolve, said USTR, adding that by Jan. 1, 2016 Korean tariffs on over 95 percent of U.S. industrial and consumer goods exports to South Korea will be eliminated.
But critics of the agreement, including lawmakers, union leaders and advocates categorically rejected those claims during a March 12 event on Capitol Hill. The record high bilateral trade deficit of $20.673 billion in 2013 is building off slashed U.S. exports to South Korea and more than 60,000 lost jobs for U.S. workers, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., during the event, sponsored by Public Citizen. The trade pact is another example of the defective U.S. trade policy paradigm, said DeLauro.
“When Congress debated the Korea Free Trade Agreement those of us who opposed it argued that it would increase the U.S. trade deficit and wipe out more U.S. manufacturing jobs because it continued and expanded the same flawed trade policies we have seen in NAFTA,” said DeLauro (here). “Those concerns have proven true, yet this same model is being used in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Making promises about jobs and exports that we know will not pan out is not OK. We have to do better by the workers we represent. That means learning lessons from Korea and NAFTA and not fast tracking another bad trade deal.” Since it went into effect, the U.S.-South Korea agreement has diminished poultry exports by 39 percent, pork exports by 34 percent and beef exports by 6 percent, said Public Citizen (here).
U.S. manufactured metal product exports to South Korea, along with manufactured wood, paper, and petroleum products, have all fallen under the trade pact, said the United Steelworkers (USW) in a press release on March 12. Considering the principles currently negotiated, TPP would likely perpetuate the job and export losses of other FTAs, said USW President Leo Gerard in the release. "The failures of the Korea FTA show why future trade deals need to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers; include strong rules of origin; develop enforceable labor and environmental standards; and stop our country's focus on negotiating enhanced protections for corporations at the expense of workers' rights,” said Gerard. “And, these provisions need to be backed up by strong implementation and enforcement provisions to guarantee results.”