US and S.Korea struggle to iron out trade differences

SEOUL – US and South Korean negotiators struggled yesterday to iron out differences over the opening of several key markets as they prepared to wrap up free trade talks ahead of a looming month-end deadline.

Lee Hye-Min, South Korea’s deputy chief negotiator, said both sides failed to reach agreement at a morning session, the final day of five-day talks that began in Seoul last week. “There was no agreement this morning.Negotiations are under way in general,” he told reporters.South Korean officials have reported progress in some less sensitive areas but indicated unresolved key sticking points, such as auto and agricultural market access, should be tackled through high-level informal talks in coming weeks.”Automobiles and agriculture will be the most contentious issues to be resolved at the last moment,” Kim Jong-Hoon, the chief Korean negotiator, said Sunday.He said both sides were struggling hard to narrow differences over automobiles, textiles, pharmaceuticals, anti-dumping remedies and farm goods such as rice.Washington wants the early elimination of South Korean levies on American cars given that very few are sold here compared with hundreds of thousands moving the other way.Seoul insists it will maintain trade barriers on rice and other sensitive items while Washington says there should be no exceptions.The deal, if agreed, would be the biggest since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.US-South Korean bilateral trade reached US$74 billion in 2006.US negotiators must submit any FTA deal to Congress by April 2 for a 90-day review before President George W.Bush’s “fast-track” trade promotion authority expires on July 1.South Korea has pushed for the pact despite hostility from farmers and other workers who fear for the loss of their jobs if US goods gain access.Some 3 000 protesters clashed with riot police Saturday in downtown Seoul, leaving seven officers injured.Police detained 20 activists.Yesterday, 20 activists, including four imprisoned in the central city of Daejon for a violent protest against the deal in November last year, started a hunger strike, according to the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US FTA, a coalition of civic groups.”We will step up our action from next week demanding the government stop negotiations with the United States,” coalition spokesman Park Suk-Yoon told AFP, adding the number of hunger strikers may reach 1 000 by March 26.Nampa-AFP”There was no agreement this morning.Negotiations are under way in general,” he told reporters.South Korean officials have reported progress in some less sensitive areas but indicated unresolved key sticking points, such as auto and agricultural market access, should be tackled through high-level informal talks in coming weeks.”Automobiles and agriculture will be the most contentious issues to be resolved at the last moment,” Kim Jong-Hoon, the chief Korean negotiator, said Sunday.He said both sides were struggling hard to narrow differences over automobiles, textiles, pharmaceuticals, anti-dumping remedies and farm goods such as rice.Washington wants the early elimination of South Korean levies on American cars given that very few are sold here compared with hundreds of thousands moving the other way.Seoul insists it will maintain trade barriers on rice and other sensitive items while Washington says there should be no exceptions.The deal, if agreed, would be the biggest since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.US-South Korean bilateral trade reached US$74 billion in 2006.US negotiators must submit any FTA deal to Congress by April 2 for a 90-day review before President George W.Bush’s “fast-track” trade promotion authority expires on July 1.South Korea has pushed for the pact despite hostility from farmers and other workers who fear for the loss of their jobs if US goods gain access.Some 3 000 protesters clashed with riot police Saturday in downtown Seoul, leaving seven officers injured.Police detained 20 activists.Yesterday, 20 activists, including four imprisoned in the central city of Daejon for a violent protest against the deal in November last year, started a hunger strike, according to the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US FTA, a coalition of civic groups.”We will step up our action from next week demanding the government stop negotiations with the United States,” coalition spokesman Park Suk-Yoon told AFP, adding the number of hunger strikers may reach 1 000 by March 26.Nampa-AFP