Washington,DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade SubcommitteeRanking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) today made the following statements inreaction to the signing of the EU-South Korea free trade agreement today, witha provisional implementation date scheduled for July 1, 2011.
Camp said: “Today’s signing of the EU-South Korea free trade agreement is astark reminder that American exporters and workers are in danger of falling furtherbehind as other countries complete free trade agreements without us. Ifwe do not act to quickly resolve the outstanding issues of autos and beef, theEU will obtain a significant competitive advantage over U.S. businesses andworkers in the South Korean market. We cannot afford to let that happen,and I am encouraged by the President’s leadership in engaging with South Koreaon these issues. We must make every effort to take advantage of thelimited window of opportunity created for us by the G-20 meeting inNovember. Unfortunately, this announcement also serves as a reminder thatthe Colombia and Panama agreements have been allowed to languish for far toolong. The President set a clear timeline to complete the South Koreaagreement, and I urge him to set similar deadlines to complete the Colombia andPanama agreements in six months. Implementing these trade agreements willboost our economy and help create good paying jobs here in the U.S.”
Bradystated: “If we are to achieve the President’s goal of doubling exports by 2015,we must be aggressively opening new markets to U.S. exports so that we can“sell American” around the world. Today’s announcement that the EU andSouth Korea have signed their free trade agreement only underscores the urgentneed for the Administration to resolve the outstanding issues quickly andsubmit the agreement to Congress for its prompt consideration. SouthKorea is a key security and trading partner to the United States and a gatewayto the Asia-Pacific region for American products and services. Congresshas ignored this important agreement for over three years, and now theEuropeans are threatening to leave us behind. If the EU implements itsagreement first, U.S. job creators and workers could lose billions of dollarsin exports.”
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