Donga | 8 September 2007
"U.S. Congress Postpones Deliberation on KORUS FTA"
Leaders of the U.S. Congress have reportedly decided to approve the U.S.-Columbia FTA before deliberating the Korea-U.S. FTA.
According to a Congressional source on September 6, leading congressmen in charge of FTA deliberations, including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel and House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin recently visited Central America and decided to deliberate on the FTA with Columbia following ones with Peru and Panama.
U.S. President George W. Bush said in his keynote speech at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation yesterday, “I'll make efforts to have the KORUS FTA ratified in Congress.”
Congressional rules stipulate that the U.S. administration can submit ratification motions only after an independent International Trade Committee (ITC) hands in an analysis on the content of an FTA. The ITC's report on the KORUS FTA is scheduled for the end of this month.
Given the current atmosphere in Congress, however, there is no chance that the Bush administration could submit a ratification motion. The Democratic Party leadership announced its opposition to the KORUS FTA on June 29.
A Congressional source said, “Chances are slim that the FTAs with Korea and Columbia will be finalized by year-end. February next year would be the soonest timeline.”
