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Agriculture Changes Expected in KORUS Revisions

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

korusA South Korea trade lawyer believes changes to agricultural trade will top the list of changes requested in KORUS, the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

During a meeting last week between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and South Korea trade officials, the two nations agreed to open KORUS to renegotiation. The U.S. proposed revisions to language in KORUS regarding industrial goods, services, intellectual property, investment, and farm produce, according to a South Korea-based newspaper. However, no further specifics on those trade categories were revealed.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the trade deal that he calls unfair. A South Korea trade official said of Trump’s threats to withdraw from KORUS, that “I don’t think that he’s bluffing.”

Meanwhile, Korea trade experts predict that the U.S. will pressure South Korea for changes, while also “asking for unreasonable adjustments to South Korea’s action on automobiles and steel.”

From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.