Korean Job Discussion Forums

[charlieDD]

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=181035 (Article titled "US Congress Questions Trade Deal")

The language of the deal apparently leaves the matter of goods produced in Kaesong to be dealt with later, but it's wording is vague enough to cause concern that it could allow a backdoor for the goods.

Some other problems Congress has with the deal:

- - Non-tariff barriers in Korea designed specifically to keep American cars and parts out.

- - By accounts from both side, American and Korean, the deal would result in increasing the American trade deficit with Korea by $800 million more per year. (Which supports the view that the KOR-US FTA is a foreign aid package.) The deficit is already at $11 billion a year, . . 82% of that from automobile sales.

** Another interesting article about how Democrats who used to embrace free trade, as President Clinton was known to, are doing a 180 because they see the downside of past deals rearing up:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-paul/attention-all-candidates_b_52064.html

[Kuros]

The reason for the FTA is that South Korea and the USA have experienced single-digit percentage drops in exports to each other's countries in the past few years. The FTA will change that.

Already, the FTA has helped push the Japanese market open, as the Japanese begin considering signing their own FTA with the US.

The Kaesong fears are ridiculous. There is no clear language in the FTA that says that North Korea is to be included. The Congressmen who are crying foul about this are protectionists who want to scare the American public.

[charlieDD]