Korea and the U.S. were struggling to narrow their differences Tuesday over a bilateral free trade agreement as trade officials raced to strike a deal before the G20 Seoul Summit begins on Thursday.
Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and the U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk held last-minute negotiations in Seoul for a second day.
The talks, originally scheduled to be concluded Tuesday, were extended for another day after they failed to resolve pending issues including U.S. demands to ease Korean regulations on automobiles, officials said.
“The two sides are negotiating earnestly but overall the situation is that differences are not being narrowed,” Deputy Trade Minister Choi Seok-young said after the meeting.
He added that the two sides are discussing various ways to afford U.S. carmakers separate measures regarding Korea’s automobile fuel economy and emissions standards. He added that other countries including the U.S. and Japan have separate regulations for small scale manufacturers.
“Separate measures are not complete exemptions from our standards. We are discussing ways to ease regulations in part.”
Since the talks began, Korea has conceded to U.S. demands on a number of automobile-related regulations.
Automobile-related issues on the table are thought to include putting a cap on customs refunds on automobile parts that are imported and used in exported vehicles at 5 percent, and exempt carmakers with an annual sales figure of up to 10,000 vehicles from the new fuel economy standards that will go into effect in 2015.
From 2015, vehicles able to seat 10 or fewer people will be required to have fuel efficiency of at least 17 kilometers per liter or emissions standards of no more than 140 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
In addition, the two sides are likely to agree to phase out the 25 percent tariff on Korean-made pickup trucks over 15 years instead of the previously agreed 10 year phase-out period or to include a snap-back clause on such vehicles. A snap-back clause allows tariffs to be reinstated if regulations are broken or if the pact leads to significant damage to the auto industry.
For its part, the U.S. is reported to have retracted demands concerning Korea’s beef import barriers.
The U.S. has been calling for Korea to remove its 30-month cap on the age of cattle from which beef products imported to Korea are produced, but Seoul has been maintaining the position that the issue is unrelated to the bilateral trade pact.
Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and the U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk held last-minute negotiations in Seoul for a second day.
The talks, originally scheduled to be concluded Tuesday, were extended for another day after they failed to resolve pending issues including U.S. demands to ease Korean regulations on automobiles, officials said.
“The two sides are negotiating earnestly but overall the situation is that differences are not being narrowed,” Deputy Trade Minister Choi Seok-young said after the meeting.
He added that the two sides are discussing various ways to afford U.S. carmakers separate measures regarding Korea’s automobile fuel economy and emissions standards. He added that other countries including the U.S. and Japan have separate regulations for small scale manufacturers.
“Separate measures are not complete exemptions from our standards. We are discussing ways to ease regulations in part.”
Since the talks began, Korea has conceded to U.S. demands on a number of automobile-related regulations.
Automobile-related issues on the table are thought to include putting a cap on customs refunds on automobile parts that are imported and used in exported vehicles at 5 percent, and exempt carmakers with an annual sales figure of up to 10,000 vehicles from the new fuel economy standards that will go into effect in 2015.
From 2015, vehicles able to seat 10 or fewer people will be required to have fuel efficiency of at least 17 kilometers per liter or emissions standards of no more than 140 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
In addition, the two sides are likely to agree to phase out the 25 percent tariff on Korean-made pickup trucks over 15 years instead of the previously agreed 10 year phase-out period or to include a snap-back clause on such vehicles. A snap-back clause allows tariffs to be reinstated if regulations are broken or if the pact leads to significant damage to the auto industry.
For its part, the U.S. is reported to have retracted demands concerning Korea’s beef import barriers.
The U.S. has been calling for Korea to remove its 30-month cap on the age of cattle from which beef products imported to Korea are produced, but Seoul has been maintaining the position that the issue is unrelated to the bilateral trade pact.
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