[Ip-health] AP: U.S. Cites Progress in South Korea Talks

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/09/AR2006060901311.html

U.S. Cites Progress in South Korea Talks

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
The Associated Press
Friday, June 9, 2006

WASHINGTON -- U.S. trade officials said significant progress had been
made during the first week of negotiations aimed at reaching a free
trade agreement with South Korea, but they cautioned that difficult
issues remained to be resolved.

"We have clearly hit the ground running," said Assistant U.S. Trade
Representative Wendy Cutler, who is heading the American negotiating
team. "Overall, we have accomplished much more than usual for the first
round of negotiations."

She said the progress made during five days of talks this week in
Washington "bodes well for our ability to complete this agreement on time."

Cutler said areas where differences had been narrowed included providing
protection for copyrights and patents and trade in telecommunications
services. However, she would not provide details, saying the
negotiations were still ongoing.

Both sides hope to wrap up negotiations by the end of this year so
Congress can approve the deal before July 1, 2007, when President Bush
loses his authority to negotiate trade agreements under expedited
procedures that call for up-or-down votes without amendments.

Cutler, who briefed reporters following the conclusion of Friday's
talks, said the next round of negotiations would be held the week of
July 10 in Seoul.

She said additional negotiations were tentatively planned to take place
in early September, October and early December. The South Korean
negotiating team is being led by Kim Jong-hoon.

A free trade agreement with South Korea, America's seventh-largest
trading partner, would be the most economically significant pact for the
U.S. since it tore down barriers with Mexico and Canada more than a
decade ago.

For American consumers, a free trade deal would hold out the prospect of
lower U.S. tariffs and thus cheaper prices on a variety of South Korean
products from cell phones to automobiles.

South Korean farmers and their U.S. supporters staged a series of
demonstrations this week to protest the pact, which they believe would
harm them economically by removing protections they currently have
against foreign competition in such areas as rice.