S. Korea, US in trade talks

AP

> Comment on this story

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korean and U.S. trade negotiators worked Sunday to hammer out a landmark free trade agreement with just one more day left in what is expected to be their final round of talks.

Activists participate in a rally denouncing police’s crackdown in front of the National Police Agency in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday. Riot police used a water cannon Saturday to break up a noisy but peaceful street protest in downtown Seoul against a proposed free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States. The letters on the banner read "Denounced police’s crackdown." Photo: AP

Brushing off protests against their eighth round of negotiations that began Thursday and are scheduled to end Monday, the two sides need to put a deal on the table by the end of March to take advantage of U.S. President George W. Bush’s expiring special trade promotion powers.

"We’re making very good progress this week," Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler said, according to a transcript of an interview Saturday with South Korean television broadcasters. "Momentum is building."

Asked to rate progress on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the highest, Cutler said: "We’re getting close to ten."

Cutler, Washington’s chief negotiator in the talks, said on the round’s opening day that it would be the last, though added that additional work in some areas might be needed through the end of the month.

Seven previous rounds since the negotiations began in June had yielded no breakthroughs as the two sides failed to bridge gaps in key sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

If successful, the free trade deal would the first for the U.S. in Northeast Asia, home to three of the world’s top 10 economies. It would also be the biggest such accord for Washington since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993.

South Korea, the world’s 10th–largest economy, and the U.S. had US$72 billion in trade in 2005. South Korea is the United States’ seventh–largest trading partner.

Any deal needs to be approved by South Korea’s National Assembly and the U.S. Congress.

Timing is critical.

The two sides have only about three weeks to clinch a deal if they are to take advantage of Bush’s special Trade Promotion Authority to send agreements to Congress for straight yes–or–no votes without amendments.

The so–called "fast track" power expires on July 1. Various legal requirements, however, mean an agreement must be completed 90 days before, or in this case by about the end of March.

South Korea and the U.S. say an agreement would boost economic growth and trade, but opponents say it would harm farmers’ and workers’ livelihoods.

Protests have dogged the negotiators since the talks began last year.

Several thousand demonstrators, including farmers, workers and students, took to the streets of Seoul on Saturday.

Police, which declared the protests illegal, broke up one peaceful demonstration of about 2,000 people downtown, firing a water cannon after the crowd failed to heed a warning to disperse.