The U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Office has asked a group of industry advisors to provide feedback on potential changes to the U.S. free trade agreement with Korea (KORUS). World Trade Online reports that USTR is seeking the feedback by mid-August, after recently asking its industry trade advisory committees for ideas on the implementation of the agreement and issues “impacting fair trade” with Korea. USTR asked for the comments to be submitted by August 15th on the five-year-old agreement, known as KORUS. Korea and the U.S. have been engaged in conversations since Lighthizer requested the review last month, but no official meetings have been arranged. While President Trump has called for a renegotiation of KORUS, Lighthizer said the U.S. was seeking a “modernization” of the deal, with a special focus on the bilateral trade deficit with Korea. Korea, on the other hand, is not interested in making changes to the text of the agreement and instead wants to focus on addressing outstanding implementation issues. Korea is currently the fifth largest U.S. agricultural export market.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.