An FTA After All?

On balance, it’s more likely that President Obama’s surprising shift in tone is about keeping up appearances on the one issue that matters most to the South Korean government. Still, you can’t deny that this is a breathtaking shift:

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged Thursday morning to ratify a free-trade agreement with South Korea that has been stuck for two years, challenging the U.S. Congress to separate South Korea from other Asian nations enjoying vast trade surpluses with the U.S. [….]

“In the United States, there is a misperception that the [free-trade agreement] once passed will only benefit Korea and will be detrimental to American consumers, which is not true,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee characterized as “minuscule” the trade surplus that South Korea has with the U.S., a characterization Mr. Obama agreed with. The U.S. president challenged Congress, which is run by his own party, to show more sophistication on trade issues.

“There’s a tendency to lump all of Asia together when Congress looks at trade agreements and says it appears this is a one-way street,” Mr. Obama said. [Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Weisman and Evan Ramstad]

And what sort of malicious demagogue would spread that kind of misperception?

Obama, congratulating South Korean president-elect Lee Myung-bak on his election on Feb. 11, said the Korea-U.S. FTA does not meet the “standard” of reciprocity. [….]

The presidential hopeful said Korea-U.S. economic relations “also benefited both nations and deepened our ties. I look forward as well to supporting ways to increase our bilateral trade and investment ties through agreements paying proper attention to our key industries and agricultural sectors, such as autos, rice, and beef, and to protection of labor and environmental standards. Regrettably, the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement does not meet this standard.”

He expressed discontent at South Korea’s import ban on bone-in cuts of American beef, the Korea-U.S. FTA’s exclusion of the rice market and the degree of opening of the auto market. [Chosun Ilbo, Feb. 15, 2008]

Wait till the union boys hear this. And if you think I meant the UAW or the SIEU, that’s not the half of it:

“If automobiles are a problem, we are in a position to discuss them again,” Mr Lee said, in a shift from a previous refusal to renegotiate the biggest free trade pact involving the US for years. “I told President Lee and his team that I am committed to see the two countries work together to move this agreement forward,” Mr Obama said. [BBC]

When I contemplate the next wave of anti-American violence and incitement the KCTU will raise over this, I question whether the good outweighs the harm. And although Kaesong is pretty clearly dying, I’ll oppose the FTA as long as it provides for those “outward processing zones.” All of that is notwithstanding my belief that overall, the FTA makes economic and diplomatic sense.