S. Korea, U.S. settle contentious issues regarding bilateral FTA deal
  • 6 years ago
As Semin mentioned in that report South Korea and the United States have revised their free trade deal. Our business correspondent Kim Jiyeon takes a closer look at some of the details from that agreement.
South Korea's Minister of Trade Kim Hyun-chong said he had settled a number of contentious issues with his U.S. counterpart Robert Lighthizer as the two countries revised their bilateral free trade agreement, including those concerning the Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions or ISDS, anti-dumping measures and textile origin standards.
Kim said the two countries included details of preventing entities from filing petitions in multiple jurisdictions under the ISDS provisions.
They agreed the burden of proof lies with the investor... if it's the plaintiff in ISDS systems... and lawsuits that are filed without substantial evidence are to be promptly dismissed.
Under the revised deal, they agreed to notify in advance if a country decides to impose tariffs... and to reveal how the rates were calculated and determined.
The two countries also agreed to enforce strict rules when it comes to determining the place of origin of textile goods... called the "Yarn Forward Rule"... which stipulates clothing must originate from the country of its making, its thread and yarn that forms the apparel... in order to be recognized as being made in Korea or in the U.S.
On provisions related to the auto industry, Kim said the two countries agreed the U.S. will continue to impose 25-percent tariffs on imported light trucks and pickup trucks until 2041... and they will not be scrapped in 2021 as initially scheduled.
Considering the imposition of safety regulations... South Korea is to double the number of U.S. car imports -- up to 50-thousand vehicles -- that it'll acknowledge as passing safety regulations equivalent to that of Korea's.
Regarding car emission standards, they agreed to recognize the global 'eco-innovation credit'... which refers to any technology new to the auto market that contributes to significant CO2 savings.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.
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