S.K. gives big agriculture concessions to U.S.

Free trade deal set to complete before next summer, says U.S. negotiator

The tariff concession offer by the South Korean government to the United States on October 27 greatly scaled up the opening of agricultural products.

Jeong Hyeon-cheol, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, said on October 30 that about 50 items that had been exempted from tariff abolition were included on the latest list of items to face tariff protection removal. In addition, nearly 230 items will have their tariff protections abolished ahead of original schedule. This means that the nation will open about 18 percent of a total of 1,531 South Korean agricultural items collated by the Subcommittee of Agriculture.

In the meantime, U.S. chief negotiator Wendy Cutler, who returned to the U.S. after the fourth round of the free trade negotiations between Seoul and Washington, said in a telephone interview that the two nations succeeded in narrowing their difference in agreement on the tariff rate quota (TRQ), which determines the level of imports allowed at a lowered tariff rate. Cutler also said the two sides were bridging their differences on anti-corruption statutes in the agreement.

Seoul and Washington have provided the appropriate momentum for the negotiations and the two allies will be able to complete the FTA negotiations before the July 2007 expiration of the Trade Promotion Authority, she added.

Regarding the problem of whether products manufactured at the joint Korean Gaeseong (Kaesong) industrial complex in North Korea would be classified as "made in South Korea," Cutler maintained her previous position that the products would not qualify, saying that the current situation on the Korean peninsula only strengthens the U.S. attitude about the matter.