By Choi Sung-jin
A warning light is flickering over the economic alliance between Korea and the United States.
Politicians in Washington are complaining about the increasing U.S. trade deficit and what they view as Seoul's failure to implement what was agreed on in the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), officials said here Monday.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Senate Financial Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch recently sent a letter to Korean Ambassador Ahn Ho-young. In it, the U.S. politician said Korea's implementation of the FTA falls short of expectations and he vowed to link the matter to Seoul's plan to join the U.S.-led free trade bloc - the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The Republican from Utah especially raised five issues: the process of determining drug prices, transparency of investigations by the Fair Trade Commission, opening of the legal services market, use of illegally copied software by government agencies and rules on offshore outsourcing of financial information, ministry officials said.
Behind these complaints is the widening U.S. deficit in trade with Korea, particularly since their free trade accord went into effect in March 2012. According to the Korea International Trade Association, the U.S. trade shortfall grew from $13.26 billion in 2011 to $28.32 billion last year. There are reportedly loud voices of disgruntlement that "the FTA has benefited only Korea."
Sen. Hatch also said in the letter he knew that Korea has shown interest in joining the TPP and emphasized that the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Act that passed the Congress last year made clear the faithful observation of the trade and investment agreements foreign countries signed with the United States is the key criterion determining their access to the TPP. This is translated as Washington applying a brake when Korea holds negotiations to join the 12-nation free trade pact.
Trade experts also expressed concern about U.S. presidential candidates stating negative views on free trade accords. Democrat Bernie Sanders described the TPP as "catastrophic" and said "it will be the victory of Wall Street and big businesses while harming U.S. consumers and taking their jobs away." Republican Donald Trump has also been critical of the free trade scheme, vowing to renegotiate or repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
But government officials here do not seem too worried. "These are minority views representing some extremists in the U.S.," the ministry officials said.
Private experts are more cautious, however, saying these seemingly small moves can develop into major fissures in the bilateral economic alliance. They called for the government to build a favorable trade environment through careful management of the economic union.
The ministry officials said they would closely monitor the U.S. views on the Korea-U.S. FTA as well as sentiments on ratifying the TPP. "The Korea-U.S. economic alliance is still rock solid and we will make efforts to minimize possible trade frictions," an official said.
A warning light is flickering over the economic alliance between Korea and the United States.
Politicians in Washington are complaining about the increasing U.S. trade deficit and what they view as Seoul's failure to implement what was agreed on in the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), officials said here Monday.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Senate Financial Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch recently sent a letter to Korean Ambassador Ahn Ho-young. In it, the U.S. politician said Korea's implementation of the FTA falls short of expectations and he vowed to link the matter to Seoul's plan to join the U.S.-led free trade bloc - the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The Republican from Utah especially raised five issues: the process of determining drug prices, transparency of investigations by the Fair Trade Commission, opening of the legal services market, use of illegally copied software by government agencies and rules on offshore outsourcing of financial information, ministry officials said.
Behind these complaints is the widening U.S. deficit in trade with Korea, particularly since their free trade accord went into effect in March 2012. According to the Korea International Trade Association, the U.S. trade shortfall grew from $13.26 billion in 2011 to $28.32 billion last year. There are reportedly loud voices of disgruntlement that "the FTA has benefited only Korea."
Sen. Hatch also said in the letter he knew that Korea has shown interest in joining the TPP and emphasized that the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Act that passed the Congress last year made clear the faithful observation of the trade and investment agreements foreign countries signed with the United States is the key criterion determining their access to the TPP. This is translated as Washington applying a brake when Korea holds negotiations to join the 12-nation free trade pact.
Trade experts also expressed concern about U.S. presidential candidates stating negative views on free trade accords. Democrat Bernie Sanders described the TPP as "catastrophic" and said "it will be the victory of Wall Street and big businesses while harming U.S. consumers and taking their jobs away." Republican Donald Trump has also been critical of the free trade scheme, vowing to renegotiate or repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
But government officials here do not seem too worried. "These are minority views representing some extremists in the U.S.," the ministry officials said.
Private experts are more cautious, however, saying these seemingly small moves can develop into major fissures in the bilateral economic alliance. They called for the government to build a favorable trade environment through careful management of the economic union.
The ministry officials said they would closely monitor the U.S. views on the Korea-U.S. FTA as well as sentiments on ratifying the TPP. "The Korea-U.S. economic alliance is still rock solid and we will make efforts to minimize possible trade frictions," an official said.
