Date Set for Second KORUS Special Session
The second special session of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement joint committee will take place Oct. 4 in Washington, about a month and a half after the first session, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. The U.S. wants both countries to consider possible amendments and modifications to the agreement to resolve issues related to the U.S.’s bilateral trade deficit, as well as Korean market access for U.S. exports.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Nineteen House lawmakers wrote a Sept. 21 letter to President Donald Trump calling for the U.S. to remain in KORUS, noting that the yearly merchandise trade deficit with South Korea decreased in 2016 and the decrease is continuing this year. “While the bonds between our two nations are longstanding, KORUS is barely five years old,” wrote the lawmakers, led by House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash. “The agreement has not yet been fully implemented and provides significant potential for U.S. market access to grow. The agreement so far has been positive” as U.S. goods and services exports have grown by $2.1 billion, or 3 percent, since 2011, the letter says.
Lawmakers are willing to work with the Trump administration to ensure South Korea addresses “its many failures” in implementing the agreement, but withdrawal would be a “grave error,” the letter says, adding that Congress should be informed and consulted about the future of the agreement and any potential changes.
Email ITTNews-@warren-news.com for a copy of the letter.