U.S.-Korea FTA News

The Trump administration is heading in the wrong direction in how it separates trade and foreign policy, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) said on Tuesday, lamenting U.S. threats to terminate the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. “I do not believe long-term that you can segregate your trade relationship from your foreign policy,” Heitkamp said during a Dec. 5 event hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America. “Those trade relationships build the cohesiveness, they build the relationships, they build the advantage...

South Korea last week completed a second public hearing in accordance with its statutory requirements for renegotiating trade deals, advancing the process for U.S. and Korean officials to officially begin talks on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration should “sternly respond” if the U.S. demands increased agriculture market access, said Han Min-soo, a senior policy official with the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation, an industry association. “The government should sternly respond if the U.S. demands an additional...

The U.S. has yet to clarify its list of demands for the amendment and improved implementation of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, leaving South Korea unable to formulate counterproposals, sources and a House member tell Inside U.S. Trade . During the first special session of KORUS' joint committee, which was convened at the request of the U.S. under Article 22 of the FTA, the U.S. presented what one source called a “laundry list” of more than 50 demands – including...

President Trump and Korean President Moon Jae-in announced Tuesday that the process for amending the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement would be “expedited,” though sources say the termination of the deal continues to be discussed at the highest levels of the Trump administration. Many observers had feared President Trump’s impatience with the speed of the KORUS modification process could lead to a withdrawal from the deal as soon he returns to Washington next week. In Seoul, however, the two presidents said...

With all of Asia “really watching” how the U.S. and South Korea approach the modernization of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, negotiators should be wary of rushing through the process after Presidents Trump and Moon Jae-in agreed to “expedite” the talks this week, according to Wendy Cutler, former U.S. chief negotiator for KORUS. Cutler, speaking today at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, framed the talks as a concern throughout the region and beyond after...