11-20-98 U.S. Expected to Toughen Import Restrictions on Korea Next Year
The United States, increasingly losing patience with Korea and the swelling trade deficit, may be tempted to toughen its regulations on Korean exports next year, a trade report said yesterday.
Although highly dependent on macroeconomic stability in Korea and other recession-hit regional economies, overall trade ties between Seoul and Washington are expected to improve in 1999, said the report released by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).
''However, the Clinton administration will surely come under growing pressure from such industries as steel, automobiles and semiconductors, to regulate imports from Korea,'' it said.
President Kim's trip to Washington last June and President Clinton's scheduled visit to Korea starting today are expected to have positive effects on preventing the aggravation of the bilateral trade relationship, the nation's largest traders' group said.
Within the cited industrial sectors, however, the call for crackdowns on Korean imports will rise further, as the U.S. trade deficit with Korea widens in the months ahead, it said.
The U.S. trade balance with Korea enjoyed surpluses for three years until 1997, but has since turned in the red. In the first nine months of this year, the United States suffered $1.72 billion in deficits with Korea.
''The Omnibus budget bill, which passed the U.S. Congress last month, contained numerous Korea-related clauses on the IMF loans such as rising steel imports and trade deficits,'' a KITA official said.
On the other hand, in the wake of the merger between Chrysler and Daimler-Benz, attempts by U.S. car makers to further open Korea's auto market will considerably weaken, the report said.
Noting that U.S. steel makers recently launched a $6 million ''Stand up for steel'' campaign, the report forecast that Washington will be forced to take antidumping actions against Korean steelmakers.
In addition, the allegations that Seoul has been offering subsidies to bankrupt Hanbo Steel will emerge as a hot trade issue, it said. |
