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Statement by H.E. Mr. Sang-ki PARK, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea At the 10
thTrade Policy Review of the United States
29 September 2010
Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
I would like to welcome the U.S. delegation headed by Ambassador Michael Punke to its tenth trade policy review and thank the Secretariat and the U.S. government for their informative reports. My thanks also go to Ambassador Hiswani Harun of Malaysia for her valuable contribution to this review.
Mr. Chairman,
The United States has been for many years and still remains Korea’s major economic and strategic partner. I appreciate Ambassador Punke’s remarks on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. In fact, Korea and the U.S. are working closely together to move forward on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which has yet to be ratified. Indeed, we believe not only that the KORUS FTA will bring our bilateral economic relationship to new heights, but also that it could serve as a good model for removing the tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in goods and services, which is one of the fundamental objectives of the WTO.
As one of the United States’ important trading partners, Korea has keen interest in the U.S.
trade regime. With this in mind, we have submitted several written questions concerning the various aspects of U.S. trade and economic policies. We would appreciate it if the U.S.
delegation could provide answers to these questions later. Now, I would like to make some comments on the U.S. economic and trade policies on which we would like to see further improvement.
2 Mr. Chairman,
As the Report by the Secretariat rightly points out in the first lines of its first page, the United States’ trade and investment regimes are among the most open in the world. Its average bound tariff rate is only 3.5% and about 70% of all imports to the country were duty-free in 2009.
However, in the face of the growing economic uncertainty in the aftermath of the global financial and economic crisis, there still appears to be a persistent protectionist sentiment in some quarters of the United States. We take due note that President Obama announced the launching of the National Export Initiative (NEI) which is aimed not only at doubling U.S.
exports in five years to create 2 million jobs, but also at strengthening trade enforcement.
Although the NEI does not intend to advocate protectionism, there seems to be concerns that the initiative might conflict with the U.S.’s traditionally open trade policy. In this regard, we would highly appreciate it if the U.S. delegation could provide as much information on the NEI Trade Law Enforcement Package as possible.
As an advocate for the G-20 standstill on protectionism, Korea certainly hopes and believes that the U.S. government will resist any call for protectionism in its trade policy and remain a firm supporter of free and open trade. Ambassador Punke’s statement this morning reinforces our belief that the U.S. government will continue to do so.
Mr. Chairman,
Turning to some of the issues that are of particular interest to Korea, my delegation would appreciate the U.S.’s clarification on the pending Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability bill over which a couple of delegations also expressed their concerns. Indeed, if enacted, it may have the effect of increasing the cost for Korean manufacturers, especially auto parts makers, of doing business with the United States.
3 Korea also shares the concern over the excessive duration of some anti-dumping and countervailing measures initiated by the U.S. government. According to the Secretariat report, a total of 254 anti-dumping duty orders were in effect as of December 2009. Of these, 28 percent had already been in place for 10 to 20 years, and 15 percent had been imposed for more than 20 years.
In addition, out of the 41 countervailing duty orders in effect as of December 2009, five had been lasting for 23 years, including the one against Korean stainless steel cooking ware. The Korean government finds that duty orders of such duration could be considered out of place given the U.S.’s strenuous efforts to enhance the competitiveness of its domestic industries.
Mr. Chairman,
We are now at a critical juncture in the DDA negotiations. Members will have to redouble their efforts to break the logjam through what we call a “cocktail approach.” We hope and trust that the U.S. will continue to play its leadership role in helping the DDA negotiations to move forward.
In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to remind this house that Korea, as Chair of the G-20 Seoul Summit to be held in November this year, will also work closely with the U.S.
and other G-20 countries to ensure that this Summit will make meaningful contributions to the early and successful conclusion of the DDA negotiations.
Finally, let me once again express my appreciation to the U.S. delegation and the Secretariat for their hard work in preparing for today’s meeting. We wish the U.S. delegation another successful TPR.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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