Agricultural News
As President Obama Heads to Asia- US Beef Interests Hope for Breakthrough on Korean FTA
Fri, 05 Nov 2010 3:48:33 CDT
Today's beef Buzz focues on what may be the most important element of the Asian trip being undertaken by US President Barack Obama- getting a deal with Seoul on moving forward with a Free Trade Agreement with South Korea- a deal that was struck over two years ago by the Bush Administration but put on the shelf by the President as he entered the White House. It has remained there for the first half of his four term term as President- much to the dismay of the US Beef Cattle Industry, which had hoped for ratification that could have started the process of reducing tariffs for US Beef over a fifteen year period.
Dealing with Korea in a postive way is a key to not just getting the Korean deal done- but will also be a signal to the rest of Asia of how to work with the United States on trade issues, so says the President and CEO of the US Meat Export Federation Phil Seng. Seng told reporters at the USMEF Conference in Dallas on Thursday that expanding beef exports in Korea as well as to other countries in the region like Japan and China hand in the balance.
According to a Reuters story on the President's travels into Asia, Obama wants to double U.S. exports in five years and the administration is working to remove obstacles to a long-stalled U.S.-South Korean free trade agreement in time for Obama's meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul.
Failure would send a negative signal about U.S. openness to more trade, after an election campaign marked by protectionist rhetoric over China and outsourcing hubs like India.
"There are very high expectations (that Obama can deliver an FTA) in Korea, not just in Korea, but in the region," said Victor Cha, a senior adviser and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"The FTA is important in terms of perceptions of the U.S. presence and leadership in Asia," Cha said.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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