`Social Dumping Triggers FTA Re-negotiations
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
An international trade expert has pointed out that ``social dumping'' is behind the possible additional negotiations between Korea and the U.S. over the bilateral free trade pact.
``The rationale of the U.S. lawmakers is that international trade will go unfair when two countries having very different labor standards are involved in bilateral trade,'' said Professor Kim Jung-soo in a telephone interview with The Korea Times Thursday.
``The unfair trade practice is a consequence of social dumping,'' the political scientist at Hanyang University in Seoul said.
According to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, social dumping refers to a ``practice involving the export of a good from a country with poorly enforced labor standards, where the exporter's costs are artificially lower than its competitors in countries with higher standards.''
As a result, the country having higher labor standards loses out as a result of trade with its counterpart with the lower standards.
``There has been much discussion in the U.S. about the ways of putting binding measures in the areas of labor and environment through trade negotiations during the previous decades,'' Kim said.
The professor declined to define the motive of the U.S. government's call for additional talks over labor and the environment after the accord was concluded in early April.
``A state actor cannot be treated as an individual, and therefore I would not say the U.S. is trying to achieve this or that goal with the standards,'' he said.
He provided a backdrop of the U.S. request for the additional FTA negotiations.
According to him, the U.S. will not only achieve protection of workers' rights and the environment but also will help reduce unfair trade practices under the measures.
The U.S. Congress is controlled by the Democrats which have shown a more sympathetic stance toward labor and environmentalism. In this sense, the strengthened measures would reflect the growing influence of the Democratic Party, the political scientist pointed out.
Asked if the U.S. has ever included the measures into a FTA with other nations previously, Prof. Kim said the new trade policy was recently adopted and, thus, the previous negotiations have not reflected them.
The U.S. Congress and government released the alternative trade policy embracing seven areas including labor, environment, intellectual property rights and government procurement on May 10.
During the interview, Kim expressed somewhat optimistic views of the prospect of the FTA even after the additional talks on labor and environment are completed.
``Korea faced several trade disputes with the U.S. in the 1980s due to its lack of legislation protecting intellectual property rights. Increased demands for legislation in this field from the U.S. government had motivated Korea to put the relevant systems in place,'' he recalled.
``Although the increasing pressure was thought to be harsh then, Korea is now gaining from trade with China because of the previous legislative measures,'' Kim said.