Text Fwd: The Korea-U.S. FTA in 7 points NAFTA's Second Coming

* Text fwd from Steve Zeltzer on Feb. 14, 2011


The Korea-U.S. FTA in 7 points
NAFTA's Second Coming

President Obama has made passing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement within the next few months a priority. Here are seven reasons we should stop it.

1. The Korea Free Trade Agreement is the largest free trade agreement since
NAFTA. South Korea is the 12th largest economy in the world, and the US' 7th largest trading partner.

2. The Korea FTA would cost U.S. jobs, increase the U.S. trade deficit. Imports from South Korea will displace 888,000 American jobs within seven years should the Korea FTA pass, costing the country a net 159,000 jobs. This makes sense as the USITC predicts an increase in our trade deficit through the deal.

3. The Korea FTA would hurt some of America’s highest-paying industries. The
ITC predicts that high-paying industries like motor vehicles and parts, electronics
equipment, metal products and other transportation equipment are among those that
will fare poorly under the Korea FTA.

4. The Korea FTA would enable “Korean” cars and other products sold in the United States to be largely made in third-party countries. The rule of origin in the Korea FTA was negotiated at an extraordinarily-low 35%, meaning that 65% of a Korean product's value could be in parts made in even lower-wage nations like China, Vietnam and
elsewhere — undercutting U.S. manufacturers and the U.S. supply chain.

5. The Korea FTA contains language explicitly forbidding reference to the
International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions. This language was added
as a footnote by the Bush administration back in 2007, winning praise from
business groups and scorn from labor unions.

6. The Korea FTA’s investment chapter poses a much more significant threat to
U.S. public interest policies than most past FTAs. Unlike most developing
countries, South Korea is a capital-exporting nation with significant investments
throughout the U.S. Under the proposed FTA, Korean investors would be given
extraordinary new rights to challenge U.S. laws, regulations and even court
decisions as “regulatory takings” in international tribunals that circumvent the U.S.
judicial system.

7. The Korea FTA fails to safeguard against currency manipulation. South Korea
is one of only three countries to ever be formally listed as a currency manipulator by
the U.S. Treasury Department. Should the won again be undervalued, the potential
benefit to U.S. exporters from reduced Korean tariffs could easily be wiped out.

For more information, please go to www.citizenstrade.org/cal_korea.php

Prepared by the California Fair Trade Coalition. Questions or comments? Please contact Tim Robertson at (415)255-7291 or tim@citizenstrade.org -labor donated-