VP Biden Presses Full KORUS Implementation in Seoul Speech
The Obama Administration's goals for the Asia-Pacific region include elimination of trade barriers, intellectual property rights protections (IPR) and uniform trade and investment rules, as part of the U.S. “rebalancing” effort in the region, said Vice President Joe Biden in a Dec. 6 speech at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Although those principles constitute the foundation of the Korean-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), U.S. and Korean officials still must fully implement the pact, said Biden, according to a White House transcript.
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“We have to end the bureaucratic hurdles that close off trade in key sectors like autos and agriculture,” said Biden, in reference to a U.S.-Korean bilateral trade relationship that increased from $80 billion a year 2000 to $130 billion in 2012, according to the vice president. “We have to agree on final regulations that allow financial institutions to operate fully.” KORUS entered into force in March 2012. Biden welcomed Korea to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations currently underway between 12 Pacific Rim countries, including the United States. In a Dec. 5 speech in Beijing, the vice president also pressed Chinese officials to move forward with proposed IPR and trade secret reform (see 13120518).
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