In a highly anticipated meeting, President Obama and President Lee of South Korea were unable to bridge remaining differences on the pending Korea-U.S. (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement, telling reporters in Seoul on November 11 that negotiations will continue over the coming weeks. The two presidents missed a deadline set by President Obama to resolve outstanding issues regarding access to South Korea's market for U.S. autos and beef, and the two leaders said they had decided to give their trade ministers more time to work out technical issues. "We don't want months to pass before we get this done, we want this to be done in a matter of weeks," President Obama said. Korean Trade Minister Kim reportedly has agreed to come to Washington to continue talks with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
"Time is of the essence. American jobs are on the line. Since South Korea will soon implement a similar arrangement with the EU, American workers stand to lose 340,000 jobs without this agreement," said U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue. "The Chamber is ready to pull out all the stops to explain the benefits of this agreement to the American people and help move the pact through Congress. The sooner we get this deal done, the sooner it will start creating new American jobs."
While on the four-day trade mission to South Korea, Donohue also addressed the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea to highlight the benefits of implementing the Agreement. "If we're serious about creating jobs in the United States, we need to see action on this agreement," said Donohue. "The linchpin to reaching our goal of doubling exports in the next five years is going to be passing this deal."
"Time is of the essence. American jobs are on the line. Since South Korea will soon implement a similar arrangement with the EU, American workers stand to lose 340,000 jobs without this agreement," said U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue. "The Chamber is ready to pull out all the stops to explain the benefits of this agreement to the American people and help move the pact through Congress. The sooner we get this deal done, the sooner it will start creating new American jobs."
While on the four-day trade mission to South Korea, Donohue also addressed the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea to highlight the benefits of implementing the Agreement. "If we're serious about creating jobs in the United States, we need to see action on this agreement," said Donohue. "The linchpin to reaching our goal of doubling exports in the next five years is going to be passing this deal."
