WASHINGTON _ The top U.S. trade negotiator on Monday stood firmly by a free trade agreement (FTA) signed with South Korea, saying the benefits from the deal should not be sacrificed under the opposition of some.
"This is clearly a winner" for Americans from farmers to service providers, Susan Schwab, the U.S. trade representative, said in a teleconference from Las Vegas, where she was attending a consumer electronics show.
"We have every intention of moving the Korea FTA," she said. "We need to get it done."
Some will oppose it, include those who will be negatively affected by the FTA, Schwab said.
"We have an obligation and desire to look after them, but the rest of the economy should not be punished by virtue of that, should not have to pick up the cost in terms of the U.S. not opening its market," she said.
South Korea and the U.S. signed the FTA in June, hailed in Washington as the largest trade deal since the North American FTA of 1994 and the first with an Asian economy. The agreement is also promoted as politically significant between the allies of over half a century.
South Korea already submitted the deal for ratification by the National Assembly. The U.S. has two other FTAs that concluded ahead of the Korea FTA, and it intends to seek congressional approval in the order they were signed.
The U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent agency, produced a report in September predicting an increase of up to US$11.9 billion in America's gross domestic product and as much as $10.9 billion in additional merchandise exports to South Korea from the bilateral trade pact.
Schwab said the pact means eliminating trade barriers to the 10th largest economy in the world that has a $1 trillion economy and an average per capita income approaching $20,000.
"This is a terrific market for the U.S.," she said.
(Yonhap)