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Protesters ring U.S.-Korea free-trade talks
by Pete Hisey on 9/8/2006 for Meatingplace.com
About 500 protestors, many of them Korean farmers and ranchers, took to the streets of Seattle this week as a new round of free-trade talks between the United States and South Korea opened.
Kimyoung Hwan, vice president of the Korean Beef Association, was one protestor, telling the Associated Press that the talks should be open to observation by interested parties. "All we really want is to know what is being talked about," he said.
The United States, under Trade Chief Negotiator Wendy Cutler, sent a team of about 100 governmental representatives; South Korea countered with about 200.
South Korean sources said that the country would not agree to lowering tariffs on either beef or rice, two major agricultural products in South Korea that both have large, active and influential pressure groups representing them. The United States has essentially said that it will not allow those tariffs, along with those on hundreds of other agricultural products, to be taken off the table.
Both sides are trying to reach an agreement by year-end that can be ratified next year before President Bush's fast-track trade authority expires in July. After that date, Congress would be free to amend or alter any agreement reached by negotiators, making ultimate ratification less likely.
Protesters ring U.S.-Korea free-trade talks
by Pete Hisey on 9/8/2006 for Meatingplace.com
About 500 protestors, many of them Korean farmers and ranchers, took to the streets of Seattle this week as a new round of free-trade talks between the United States and South Korea opened.
Kimyoung Hwan, vice president of the Korean Beef Association, was one protestor, telling the Associated Press that the talks should be open to observation by interested parties. "All we really want is to know what is being talked about," he said.
The United States, under Trade Chief Negotiator Wendy Cutler, sent a team of about 100 governmental representatives; South Korea countered with about 200.
South Korean sources said that the country would not agree to lowering tariffs on either beef or rice, two major agricultural products in South Korea that both have large, active and influential pressure groups representing them. The United States has essentially said that it will not allow those tariffs, along with those on hundreds of other agricultural products, to be taken off the table.
Both sides are trying to reach an agreement by year-end that can be ratified next year before President Bush's fast-track trade authority expires in July. After that date, Congress would be free to amend or alter any agreement reached by negotiators, making ultimate ratification less likely.
