YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) U.S. reaffirms commitment to Korea FTA's ratification: White House

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to pursue ratification of the free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama as a means of enhancing exports, but fell short of presenting a timeline for their ratification.

   "The president obviously envisions the increase of those exports through a whole host of things, including the free trade agreements that he outlined quite specifically in the State of the Union," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "He did not outline and I don't have to outline a specific timeline for that, understanding that the president has laid out a very aggressive goal on increasing exports, partly through the trade agreements."

   Gibbs was discussing Obama's pledge in his first State of Union address last week to enhance trade with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to help fuel the fledgling economic recovery from the worst recession in decades.

   "We have to seek new markets aggressively, just as our competitors are," Obama said. "If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores. That's why we will continue to shape a Doha trade agreement that opens global markets, and why we will strengthen our trade relations in Asia and with key partners like South Korea, Panama, and Colombia."

   Obama has not yet presented the deals to Congress for deliberation amid growing protectionist sentiment in the worst recession in decades.

   The Foreign Affairs and Trade committee of South Korea's National Assembly has already passed the FTA with the U.S., and the ruling party, which has a majority of seats, is awaiting a similar move by Congress before ratifying the deal, signed in 2007.

   U.S. officials have complained about the imbalance in auto trade and the restricted shipment of U.S. beef, hoping to address such concerns in side agreements without revising the text of the deal.

   They also called on South Korea to be patient, citing the need for Obama to focus on health care and financial reform, economic recovery legislation and other more pressing issues.

   Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis discussed the difficulty last week.

   "We hope to come up with a solution that works, but it will be hard to do," he said. "Substance will drive the timing."

   South Korea wants the pact to be ratified by this summer, fearing that any further delay may jeopardize the chance of the deal passing through Congress this year due to the politically sensitive mid-term elections in November.

   Speaking to the National Press Club on a new National Export Initiative to double American exports over the next five years, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, meanwhile, said that the U.S. needs to address its concerns over the pending free trade deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia before their ratification.

   Locke said the office of the U.S. Trade Representative "will improve enforcement of existing international trade law and address the outstanding concerns we have with pending free trade agreements."

   Locke also emphasized the need to "sharpen the government's focus on the barriers that prevent U.S. companies from getting free and fair access to foreign markets."

   He said, "The United States is committed to a rules-based trading system where the American people and the Congress can feel confident that when we sign an agreement that gives foreign countries the privilege of free and fair access to our domestic market, we are treated the same in their countries. That means enforcing our trade laws; combating unfair tariff and non-tariff barriers; and cracking down on practices that blatantly harm U.S. companies, like the theft of our intellectual property."

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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