I guess they reached an agreement on the fta in korea

[awong]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070402/pl_nm/korea_usa_trade_dc;_ylt=An_YJUsd2mG_M16Sbt1VXEIBxg 8F

I dunno, I dont like the sound of this one bit.

[kimtae]

Still needs approval by Congress and Korea's National Assembly. Overall it should benefit Korea more than the US but in any case as long as the agriculture sector is protected I don't see what concerns you might have.

[awong]

i guess with the automotive industry, if it does benefit the american cars I can see to an extent, which does need help. But I was worrying mostly about the local agriculture and another nafta

But wasnt the quota on films lifted? Has the film and entertainment industry still doing ok?

[kimtae]

The film quota hasn't been lifted entirely. Personally, I think it should be. I believe in competition and that weak industries don't need to be propped up. Korean media has shown that it can compete globally. If it can't then it should wither and die. No reason why Koreans should be forced to suffer with inferior products.
Local agriculture should be protected for the time being. It's not easy to retrain and relocate thousands of farmers but on the other hand, given the lack of popularity for farming as a profesion, given one or two more generations the issue may be moot.
IMO, Korean farmers should also be gearing up for competition after a grace period of slowly easing protections. There are some who already have made the shift to high-end and value-added products, the others should follow. There is no reason why Korean consumers shouldn't get access to the best products at a reasonable price. We pay 70-90cents a piece for oranges here that wouldn't even go ten for a dollar in America. It's shameful. But the argument is that cheap oranges will harm Korean gyool producers. BS. Two different fruits, two different markets and quite frankly, some of the growers should switch to high-end gyool like Hallabong and the new hybrid (can't recall the name) so they aren't $3-$4 each.
Rice is another sensitive issue but, there is a lot of misinformation in the public. American rice will never be able to compete here. They don't know how to grow the Korean varieties and even if they learned, they will never be cheaper than the Thais and the Viets.
Beef is one issue that is especially misrepresented. American imports will have ZERO impact on Korean farmers. Korean beef is high-end. Hanoo as it is known here never competed with American beef in the past. The only ones who will suffer are the Aussies who already export huge quantities of beef to Korea.
As for US autos, the FTA probably won't have much impact. Nobody wants those pieces of shit here. The top luxury foreign cars are Lexus, Mercedes, and then BMW. Not Cadillac or Lincoln or Chevrolet. For sportier imports at a lower price people prefer Audi, VW, or even Peugeot over American brands. You see the occassional Mustang or PT Cruiser and even once in a while a Taurus but really, people know American cars suck.

[DijabutiA]

For sportier imports at a lower price people prefer Audi, VW, or even Peugeot over American brands. You see the occassional Mustang or PT Cruiser and even once in a while a Taurus but really, people know American cars suck.

Wow... French over American... Can't miss an opportunity to hate huh?

[kimtae]

Well, for what it's worth, Volvo is somewhat popular amongst yuppie couples, that's kind of American. Ford does own them still, don't they? Personally, if it weren't for the Mustang or soon to be released Camaro, I wouldn't really look at American cars either.

[Hater Depot]

American beef has never competed with hanwoo? I don't think that's true at all. The base in Uijeongbu has a restaurant packed with Koreans looking (illegally...) for American beef. I'm sure that if it is allowed in it will be very popular.

As for rice... well, I don't know if Koreans go for American rice or not but you have to think that the 1000% tariff has an effect.

I think any bickering over the screen quota is retarded. The popularity of Hollywood movies as measured by ticket sales has tanked in the last 3 years. Lifting the quota won't make any difference nor will keeping it. What I can't figure out is why the broadcast associations are claiming the FTA would force them to dub TV programs instead of using subtitles.

[Hater Depot]

Oh and as far as retraining farmers.. the whole issue of agricultural prices has been a time bomb for rural areas for a long time now. It seems to me that the current situation of farmers surviving by charging tens of times above world market prices is just not tenable and the sooner that issue is dealt with the better for everybody. I haven't looked closely at many reports yet but as far as I can tell, tariffs and barriers will be lowered slowly and never to 0% so there is time for rural areas to readjust if they are smart.

Assuming of course the agreement is even ratified which is in serious doubt.

[kimtae]

Korean beef and American beef are two different markets. Korea can't even produce 1/2 the beef it needs to fill the high-end hanoo demand. If people are looking for cheap American beef, they are either looking to substitute it illegally as some restaurants have been caught doing or they are people who wouldn't be looking for hanoo in the first place. The only beef people who should be concerned are the Aussies.
And there is no such thing as a 1000% tariff on rice.

[sab]

just reading through old threads and ran across this one. Honestly bringing in American beef into Korea is a frickin' joke. It makes American ranchers look like a bunch of idiots because they send over the worst quality beef that I have ever seen. there is no such thing as a FTA because whoever is in control of the beef being exported will always send the worst shit possible. What I would like to know is where the real beef from real ranches (not feed lots) really goes???

If there was such a thing as FTA then ranchers could directlly negotiate their deals with other countries. I know lot's of people where I grew up would gladly get together every year around sales time and pool together a nice group of over 100,000 head of prime beef and sell it directly to any country. On the other side of the coin I am sure that Korean farmers/ranchers would love to be able to sell their produce/meat products to the highest bidder in the states, not to the middle man that just picks the shite and sells that to the other country.

FTA is nothing more than a scam.