Members of Congress have been sent a letter by an ad hoc coalition of agricultural and food organizations and companies urging them to move to approve the free trade agreement between the United States and the Republic of Korea. An outstanding issue with automobiles has been resolved, which the group says makes it possible to move the FTA agreement forward.
Other countries are moving forward with FTAs with South Korea, which the 61 organizations that signed the letter say is hurting the United States. The letter states that not implementing the FTA with Korea poses a major risk for U.S. agriculture. The U.S. could lose export sales to countries that have implemented their own FTAs with Korea.
More than 60% of existing import barriers will be removed immediately once the FTA is ratified, amounting to nearly $3 billion in U.S. food and agricultural products. According to an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the FTA would result in $1.8 billion in additional sales to Korea, a 46% increase over existing sales. The coalition pointed out that the new exports would create thousands of new jobs on the farm and in rural communities and throughout the economy.
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