South Korea and the U.S. made "important" progress in their latest round of free trade talks that ended in Seoul on Friday, virtually ensuring that a deal could be reached in time before April, Washington's top negotiator said.
"We have made important progress this week," Wendy Cutler, the chief U.S. negotiator, told reporters. "I'm optimistic and I will keep my eyes on success and do everything I can to achieve that objective."
Announcing that the next and seventh round of talks will be held in the U.S. in February, Cutler said there is "a new mood in the spirit of intensity" in the eight-month-long negotiations.
"I have spent more time with Ambassador Kim over the past few days than any previous rounds, working diligently with him to address both the tough and easier issues remaining to be resolved," she said, using the surname of her South Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-hoon.
While lower-level officials discussed "less sensitive" issues such as labor, competition and intellectual rights, the two top negotiators tried to tackle the three most sensitive areas -- anti-dumping remedies, automobile and pharmaceuticals.
An unexpected breakthrough came when a leaked South Korean government report suggested that the country has virtually retracted its demand for the U.S. to revise its anti-dumping laws for Korean goods to be covered under the proposed free trade agreement.
South Korean officials have long complained that the U.S. has often unfairly used its anti-dumping tariffs to curb semiconductors and other high-tech South Korean shipments.
The removal of the single most important Korean demand brightened hope to bring the tough negotiations to a successful end in time before U.S. President George W. Bush "fast-track" trade promotion authority expires on July 1.
Under Bush's authority, U.S. negotiators have until April 2 to submit a bill for an official 90-day congressional review before an outright yes-or-no vote without amendments.
"From my perspective, I hope we will make more progress in automotive and pharmaceutical areas," Cutler said. "But it shouldn't be taken as a negative sign that I don't have any breakthrough to announce today." Cutler said more progress was made in the sixth round of talks in Seoul than any other previous round.
"So I leave here, but my note says I'm very tired but I'm invigorated," she said. "Clearly, our object is, as we head into the seventh round, we will narrow as many issues as possible." "No decision has been taken on eighth round ... we will have to see at the end of seventh round before such decision is taken," Cutler said. "At this stage of negotiations, we increase contacts at all levels." The proposed free trade agreement will also need approval by South Korea's National Assembly where pro-FTA lawmakers far outnumber those who oppose it.
In another sign of progress in Seoul, South Korea has expressed its intention to change its tax system to address a U.S. push to expand its auto sales here, said a South Korean official involved in the talks.
"We've delivered our intention to change our tariffs on U.S. cars, based on their prices, not their engine capacity," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials have long complained that the current Koran tax system based on engine capacity is disadvantageous to large U.S. cars.
Cutler earlier had openly complained that U.S. manufacturers sold only 4,000 cars here in 2006 , which compared with 800,000 Korean cars sold in the U.S.
South Korean officials said at least two more rounds may be needed to wrap up the negotiations, including the one already set to be held in the U.S. state of Virginia in the week of Feb. 12.
"That won't happen during the seventh round, but we don't discuss an eighth round yet," the chief South Korean delegate, Kim, said when asked whether a deal could be signed in the next round.
In this week's round, the most significant progress was reported in the industrial sector where tariffs will be phased out on most products over five to 10 years, according to Lee Hye-min, Seoul's deputy chief negotiator.
"Today, I can say we have nearly completed framing an agreement on the sector of industrial goods," Lee said. "Much progress has been made in this round."
Cutler said both sides improved their offers to phase out tariffs on 500 industrial goods such as digital televisions and machinery worth US$1.9 billion, while South Korea agreed to improve its offer for 650 products worth US$1.6 billion dollars.
"This is a significant movement," she said.
Seoul, Jan. 19 (Yonhap News)
Important progress made in S. Korea-U.S. FTA talks: U.S.official |
