Commerce Secretary calls for congressional approval of Korea FTA

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, background throughout)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Tuesday
urged Congress to ratify pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia
and Panama which he said will greatly help boost the struggling U.S. economy.

"Three important agreements now await a vote by Congress: Colombia, Panama and
South Korea. These agreements are the kind of stimulus our economy urgently
needs," Gutierrez told a symposium here. "We should be passing these agreements
with the same sense of urgency that we passed a stimulus package several months
ago."
U.S. President George W. Bush urged Congress last week to ratify the pending
trade deals by the end of the year.
Obama proposed that the struggling U.S. auto industry should benefit from the
US$700 billion bailout package that is mainly for the falling U.S. financial
industry, while Bush opposed the idea, fearing any aid to the auto industry would
lead to calls for support from other industries.
Reports said Bush and Obama may strike a deal for the passage of the pending free
trade deals and subsidies for the auto industry.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has also called for prompt congressional
approval of a free trade pact with South Korea, warning against growing
protectionism after the victory of Sen. Barack Obama and congressional Democrats
in the Nov. 4 elections.
"We've got Colombia, Panama and Korea that need to have congressional approval.
Those three agreements, along with Peru in South America, can mean an increased
$3 billion in agriculture exports annually and should be put in place," Schafer
said in a speech to the annual convention of the National Association of Farm
Broadcasting in Kansas City Wednesday, according to a transcript posted on the
department's Web site.
He said the Bush administration has negotiated 17 free trade agreements, noting
the 11 agreements that have been implemented have allowed a whopping increase of
76 percent in U.S. agricultural products to the countries in question.
"And 40 percent of the gross domestic product increase last year in this country
was driven by trade, and certainly agriculture has the only positive trade
balance of any sector in our economy," he said.
Schafer was concerned about the growing protectionist movement in Congress.
"You know, there are a lot of isolationists out there, people who have the
mistaken idea that somehow we are sheltered from the global economy. And I read,
like you, that in the last election that those anti-trade folks have gained seats
in Congress," he said. "They are going to work toward moving us backward on our
trade agreement, and if they prevail it will be bad for U.S. agriculture."
"I would encourage President-elect Obama to take a hard look at the record of
success with agriculture trade and not tear it down, but build upon it the
strength that agriculture can bring to our exports, and in fact to the world,"
he said.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Sunday called for early ratification of the
South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, saying, "We need to rapidly ratify the
South Korea-U.S. FTA to develop bilateral trade and investment and strategic
economic cooperation."
Attending the first G20 economic summit in Washington Saturday, Lee cautioned
against any spread of protectionism to cope with the U.S.-initiated global
financial crisis.
South Korea's ruling party is trying to ratify the bilateral FTA with the U.S. in
the ongoing parliamentary session, although the reluctant opposition party cites
Obama's lukewarm position due to an auto trade imbalance.
Seoul and Washington signed the free trade deal, the biggest for the U.S. since
the early 1990s, in April.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)