Obama and S.Korea's Lee vow to fight protectionism

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed on Tuesday to fight against trade protectionism, as legislatures in both countries prepare to battle over a bilateral free trade deal.

South Korea and the United States reached the trade deal in 2007, which studies said is expected to boost their $78 billion annual trade by as much as $20 billion.

The bill has not been approved by legislatures in either country but is expected to come up for a vote in the coming weeks in South Korea.

Obama was quoted as telling Lee that trading states should fight the temptation to revert to protectionism, in the two leaders' first telephone conversation since Obama took office, Lee's spokesman said.



Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/motoringAutoNews/idUKTRE5121TG20090203

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What do we have to do? The article states that this FTA has majority support in S Korea.

>>>>>>
Surveys show a majority of South Koreans support the deal which bureaucrats and business leaders say will help raise local standards to international levels in key areas such as financial services.
>>>>

This is absolutely NOT true. The majority of S Koreans hate this deal. They had violent protests over it. They hate it, we hate it... The US Chamber of Commerce is pushing this. This needs to be BLOCKED in the House!

[acmavm]

1. Damn! That liberal Obama is doing just what the American people

elected him for, isn't he?

:sarcasm:

[pampango]

2. Not sure exactly what you mean by that.

"Obama is opposed to the bilateral trade deal in its current form because it gives South Korean carmakers "untrammelled access to the U.S. market," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said."

[acmavm]

3. This is what I mean...

"Obama was quoted as telling Lee that trading states should fight the temptation to revert to protectionism."

He's not the guy so many think he is. The ultimate winner will be corporate america.

[pampango]

4. Apparently Obama wants a "fair" trade deal with South Korea.

Are progressives supposed to be against fair trade, too?

All of us can imagine some level of "protectionism" that would be too much. I trust that Obama's definition of the term is different from Lee's. (Yes, I still "trust" Obama after two whole weeks of his presidency. He won't always do what I want, but I think that his heart is in the right place. Obviously, that could change over time, but I hope not.) ;)

[acmavm]

5. We've been the recipients of the 'fair' trade fiasco for years. I guess

you might not have noticed but it doesn't work very well.

[pampango]

6. I believe that "free trade" (a misnomer if there ever was one) has been tried

much more than "fair trade" has.

[acmavm]

7. Well, I'm for the kind of trade that involves employed Americans.

Define fair please. Is that the kind we have now where everything comes in, and nothing goes out? We already have that.

[pampango]

8. Before I give my own definition of "fair trade", may I ask if you believe that

there can be anything "fair" about international trade? Are there any nations with which or conditions under which we can fairly trade with other countries?

[acmavm]

9. Can there be 'fair' trade? I don't know. But this country has NO trade

whatsoever so it is a very moot point.

[pampango]

10. Not sure what you meant by "this country has NO trade". We are the #3 exporter and #1 importer

in the world. We certainly have issues, but one of them is not "having no trade".