South Korea's top trade official Thursday ruled out the possibility of a renegotiation of a free trade deal with the United States amid speculation that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama may demand revisions to the historic trade accord signed last year.
The two countries reached an agreement in April 2007 after a year of negotiations. The pact is now subject to approval by the legislatures of both countries, but ratification has been delayed.
``There will be no renegotiations of the trade deal, and our stance (no renegotiations) will be maintained," South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon was quoted as saying in a radio interview with Yonhap News.
There has been speculation that the U.S. could move toward protectionist trade policies due to the current global financial crisis and that an Obama administration will likely request overall revisions of the FTA, especially with regard to the automobile sector.
Obama, who recently described the free trade deal as "badly flawed" in terms of fairness, has often stated that bilateral automobile trade between South Korea and the U.S. strongly favors the former.
South Korea shipped about 700,000 automobiles to the U.S. last year while importing 5,000 from the U.S. Democrats also want more steel shipments to be allowed into South Korea.
"The problems facing the U.S. auto industry are not new ones," Kim said, adding that U.S. automakers should make efforts to boost their competitiveness.
U.S. automakers have called for a guaranteed market share, but current administration officials under outgoing President George W. Bush say the trade deal will not make such guarantees, according to Yonhap.
Obama's foreign policy advisers also said last week the new administration will submit the trade bill early next year, but set several preconditions, including the "strengthening of access by American automobile exports to the Korean market."
U.S. lawmakers have been shying away from taking action during election season, while ruling party lawmakers in South Korea have been pushing for quick approval of the deal by the National Assembly.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed in April to make joint efforts to gain approval of the FTA by their respective legislatures by the end of the year.
The accord, if ratified, will knock down tariff and non-tariff barriers between the world's largest and 13th largest economies. For the U.S., the deal with South Korea would be its biggest since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada in 1994.
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