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(Roseville, M.I.)- Rep. Sander Levin issued the following statement regarding South Korean Ambassador Han’s visit to Detroit and the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement.
“In its current form, the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is fundamentally flawed. The FTA as negotiated by the Bush Administration does not ensure a change in the status quo necessary to bring about meaningful market access and two-way trade in autos and other manufactured goods. This flaw was made clear to the Bush Administration and they rejected a bipartisan congressional proposal to address the flaws during negotiations.
“South Korea has historically relied on unfair taxes, regulations and other measures to shut out foreign automobile imports. As a result, the foreign market share of the Korean auto market was less than 5 percent in 2009. According to the American Automobile Policy Council, in 2009, the U.S. exported 5,878 autos to Korea and Korea exported 476,833 autos to the United States. U.S. Department of Commerce data indicate that autos and auto parts accounted for 74 percent of the $10.6 billion U.S. trade deficit with South Korea.
“As Ambassador Han visits Detroit, I expect he will hear automakers reiterate that one-way trade is unacceptable and unless the outstanding market access issues are addressed with enforceable commitments, the trade agreement will continue to be rejected.
“U.S. autos have shown in recent months that they are fully competitive; it is the job of the U.S. government to ensure that the rules of trade are fair and our companies are not discriminated against in other markets. The Korean market has been a shining example of unfair and one-way trade, and the trade agreement must address this problem head on, as I have made clear from the onset.”
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