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NCBA pushing hard for Korea FTA resolution
South Korean and U.S. officials are meeting in San Francisco this week to iron out differences in the pending free trade agreement between the two countries.
The chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Gregg Doud, says NCBA wants to see the Korea FTA passed as soon as possible. Doud is concerned because the Koreans are also talking to the Australians.
“Personally, I’m scared to death that the Australians, who are negotiating with the Koreans, are going to swoop in and snatch this thing out from under us—after all this work to have an advantage in that marketplace,” says Doud.
Disagreements over automobiles and beef continue to be obstacles, but Doud says the beef issues should not derail the agreement.
“We’re talking about the over 30-month beef portion—which is about five percent of the business. That’s all we’re really negotiating here,” Doud explains, “and what the current existing agreement says is that it’s a commercial private sector understanding that we just won’t ship them that product for the time being. It’s really open-ended on how we deal with this in the future and I think there probably needs to be a little more detail put around that—but that’s all we’re asking.”
President Obama had hoped to have the remaining FTA issues resolved prior to the G-20 summit in Seoul, South Korea in November.
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