Support FOR the KORUS FTA

Congressional Support

"At a time when millions of American families are struggling and so many people are looking for work, passage  of the Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea should be a top priority for all of us. Merely by putting these agreements in the mail to Congress, the Administration would set in motion the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs, a major expansion of U.S. exports, and broad economic growth. And we can do so without hundreds of billions in new spending or higher deficits."

This letter, signed by 10 key Democratic Senators, praises the President’s call for a prompt resolution of outstanding issues to the KORUS FTA.

In a letter to President Obama, 50 members of the House of Representatives, call for action on the pending trade agreements. The letter details the key role U.S. exports play in boosting economic growth.

This letter calls for approval of all three pending agreements, highlighting how each would lead increase U.S. agriculture exports and benefit the U.S. economy.

This letter from Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) to President Obama, expresses support for the KORUS FTA and urges the president to submit the agreement to Congress for approval as soon as possible.

This letter, signed by 18 Senators, highlights the benefits of the KORUS FTA and other pending agreements to the U.S. agricultural sector.

This letter, signed by 88 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, urges President Obama to prepare the KORUS FTA for Congressional consideration.

Business Community Support

“We are extremely pleased to see President Obama send these long-standing free trade agreements to Congress for approval,” said NSP Chairman Terry Swanson of Walsh, Colo. “Currently, 40 percent of all U.S. sorghum enters the export market. "Passage of these agreements will create market access and open the door to new opportunities for U.S. sorghum producers."

“ACLI is gratified that the administration has transmitted trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Columbia to Congress for final approval. We hope Congress will vote quickly to implement these important pacts."

“PhRMA is pleased that the Administration has transmitted the Korea Free Trade Agreement to Congress.  This agreement recognizes the 60 years of partnership between our two countries and the important national security ties that we share. PhRMA has long viewed the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement as an important opportunity for Korean patients to access biopharmaceutical medicines produced in the United States.  With rising living standards and increasingly sophisticated access to information, Korean patients, like patients everywhere, want access to the most advanced medical treatments."

"....manufacturers need an international trade policy that opens global markets, reduces regulatory and tariff barriers and reduces distortions due to currency exchange rates, ownership restrictions and various 'national champion strategies.' Congress must enact pending trade agreements as soon as possible, and the Administration must negotiate additional agreements in the Asia-Pacific area and elsewhere.

"I currently do not export to Colombia, Panama and Korea. . . .  The reason why I do not export to these countries is due to the extreme difficulty involved with exporting to these markets. The tariffs currently in place are extremely high, limiting our ability to be competitive and preventing us from breaking into these markets. The solution is to pass these three free trade agreements."

To Members of Congress:

In the near future you will be voting on legislation to implement the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). We strongly support this agreement, and we urge you to vote in favor of its implementation. U.S. farmers and ranchers and the businesses that support them – food processors, transporters and exporters – will all benefit from this agreement.

In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Webb, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, expressed support for the KORUS FTA.

Trade with Korea is the most pressing issue and serves as a model by which we could and should act with all of our trading partners around the world. I, as a producer, through our Beef Checkoff program have been spending my own money to keep our foot in the door in Korea and many other countries around the world, waiting and hoping to have the chance to some day actually get to sell my product, beef, to anxious consumers all around the globe. It doesn’t seem like much to invest a dollar a head for every animal we market. But over the course of years, if you market 10,000 a year, it gets to be $100,000—and to most of us that’s real money. And we as cattlemen expect a payoff for our investment, and the time for that payoff is now.

Korean-American Community Support