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U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economy-wide ... - USITC

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While noting that the tariff phaseouts for corn starch and modified starch last several years,<br />

the CRA is pleased that the United States was able to obtain country-specific TRQs or<br />

safeguards that will facilitate the export of U.S. corn starch, dextrin, and modified starches<br />

to <strong>Korea</strong>. Despite the relatively modest amounts of duty-free access provided in the TRQs<br />

for corn and modified starch, the CRA expects that higher-value specialty starches for the<br />

food, pharmaceutical, and paper industries will fill these TRQs. It estimates the value of this<br />

new market access at approximately $50 million.<br />

Emergency Committee for American <strong>Trade</strong> 34<br />

In a written submission to the Commission, the Emergency Committee for American <strong>Trade</strong><br />

(ECAT) stated that it is an association of chief executives of leading U.S. business<br />

enterprises with global operations. ECAT said that its members represent the major<br />

agricultural, financial, high technology, manufacturing, merchandising, processing,<br />

publishing, and services sectors of the U.S. economy. ECAT noted that its member<br />

companies are “strong supporters of negotiations to eliminate tariffs, remove nontariff<br />

barriers and promote trade liberalization and investment world<strong>wide</strong>.”<br />

According to ECAT, the FTA includes “strong provisions on protection for U.S. investment<br />

in <strong>Korea</strong>, strong provisions promoting improved U.S. access to <strong>Korea</strong>’s market for<br />

agriculture, manufactured goods, and services through the elimination of tariff and nontariff<br />

barriers to U.S. exports and U.S. investment to <strong>Korea</strong>, strong protections of U.S. intellectual<br />

property rights, and strong provisions promoting greater transparency in the <strong>Korea</strong>n market.”<br />

ECAT noted, however, that the U.S.-<strong>Korea</strong> FTA does not address all the issues sought by<br />

their association and urged that the United States continue efforts to ensure that market<br />

access barriers in <strong>Korea</strong> are addressed quickly.<br />

ECAT said that the investment chapter in the FTA contains “strong protections to guarantee<br />

fair and equitable treatment; national treatment and most-favored nation treatment; prompt,<br />

adequate, and effective compensation for direct and indirect expropriations; the free<br />

movement of capital; and restrictions on performance requirements.” ECAT added, however,<br />

it was disappointed that the investment chapter does not extend the investor-state procedure<br />

to financial institutions for national treatment claims.<br />

With regard to the market access provisions, the elimination of tariffs will have a positive<br />

impact on U.S. exports; that it is critical to ensure that <strong>Korea</strong> reestablishes and provides<br />

access to U.S. beef; that it supports intensive U.S. Government efforts to ensure that <strong>Korea</strong><br />

barriers to U.S. automotive trade are eliminated quickly; and that the FTA will promote<br />

greater access for U.S. innovative pharmaceutical products in the <strong>Korea</strong>n market through<br />

increasing transparency and strong intellectual property protections agreed to by <strong>Korea</strong>. With<br />

regard to textiles and apparel, the FTA provides duty-free access under a yarn-forward rule<br />

only for textiles and apparel made from U.S. or <strong>Korea</strong>n yarn and fabric, and said that the<br />

provision is of limited usefulness to U.S. apparel companies because of its restrictive nature.<br />

With regard to services, certain provisions will provide substantial new economic<br />

opportunities to some of the most competitive U.S. industries. The FTA would permit greater<br />

expansion, competition, and business opportunities for all insurance providers, provide<br />

greater market access for U.S. banking and securities firms through investment and cross-<br />

34 Emergency Committee for American <strong>Trade</strong>, written submission, June 27, 2007.<br />

7-16

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