July 01, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 15, 1428

WASHINGTON, June 30: The United States and South Korea signed on Saturday a landmark free-trade agreement, the biggest such deal for Washington in nearly 15 years, but the US Congress has indicated it may not approve the pact.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and her South Korean counterpart Kim Hyun-chong inked the deal on Capitol Hill, where mostly Democratic lawmakers have vowed to vote against it unless it is amended to address South Korea’s non-tariff barriers, especially in the automotive industry.

But Schwab made it clear Saturday that the signed FTA “will stand on its own, without amendment,” saying the Democratic-controlled Congress “will come to understand the details and learn just how compelling a deal it is”. “We must not fall back,” Kim said, calling it a comprehensive agreement with ‘enormous benefits’ for both sides.

The agreement was signed just hours before President George W. Bush’s ‘fast track’ trade authority expires at midnight Saturday.

‘Fast track’ authority gives the president unbridled powers to broker trade agreements, which are then subject to an up or down vote by Congress without any amendments possible.

Bush in a statement called on Congress to ratify the agreement, saying it would bring ‘considerable benefit’ to Americans and boost the US-South Korea partnership, which he said had served as a force for stability and prosperity in Asia.

“It will generate export opportunities for US farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and service suppliers, promote economic growth and the creation of better paying jobs in the US, and help American consumers save money while offering them greater choices,” he said.

The agreement is the biggest free trade deal since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), and the two sides concluded negotiations on the pact on April 1 after 10 months of talks.

“The United States and Korea have shown the world that two advanced, industrial countries were able to agree on a gold standard FTA,” Schwab said.

“What is more impressive is that we did it in only one year.” Admitting that the negotiations that led to the signing had been controversial, Schwab cited a Korean proverb “A turtle only travels when it sticks its neck out.

“Both negotiating teams stuck their necks out and travelled far,” she said.

Democratic leaders, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top presidential contender Hillary Clinton, as well as several lawmakers from Bush’s Republican party are against the pact.

—AFP