[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 26, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1014-S1015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
   ASSISTANCE TO SOUTH KOREA SHOULD BE CONDITIONED ON SOUTH KOREA'S 
   COMPLIANCE WITH ITS INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMITMENTS AND ON SOUTH 
    KOREA'S TERMINATION OF ITS UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES AND SUBSIDIES

  Mr. ASHCROFT (for himself and Mr. Baucus) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance:

                             S. Con. Res. 4

       Whereas Asia is the largest regional export market for 
     America's farmers and ranchers, traditionally purchasing 
     approximately 40 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports;
       Whereas the Department of Agriculture forecasts that over 
     the next year American agricultural exports to Asian 
     countries will decline by several billion dollars due to the 
     Asian financial crisis;
       Whereas the United States is the producer of the safest 
     agricultural products from farm to table, customizing goods 
     to meet the needs of customers worldwide, and has established 
     the image and reputation as the world's best provider of 
     agricultural products;
       Whereas American farmers and ranchers, and more 
     specifically, American pork and beef producers, are dependent 
     on secure, open, and competitive Asian export markets for 
     their product;
       Whereas United States pork and beef producers not only have 
     faced the adverse effects of depreciated and unstable 
     currencies and lowered demand due to the Asian financial 
     crisis, but also have been confronted with South Korea's pork 
     subsidies and its failure to keep commitments on market 
     access for beef;
       Whereas it is the policy of the United States to prohibit 
     south Korea from using United States and International 
     Monetary Fund assistance to subsidize targeted industries and 
     compete unfairly for market share against U.S. products;
       Whereas the South Korean Government has been subsidizing 
     its pork exports to Japan, resulting in a 973 percent 
     increase in its exports to Japan since 1992, and a 71 percent 
     increase in the last year;
       Whereas pork already comprises 70 percent of South Korea's 
     agriculture exports to Japan, yet the South Korean Government 
     has announced plans to invest 100,000,000 won in its 
     agricultural sector in order to flood the Japanese market 
     with even more South Korean pork;
       Whereas the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture and 
     Fisheries reportedly has earmarked 25,000,000,000 won for 
     loans to Korea's pork processors in order for them to 
     purchase more Korean pork and to increase exports to Japan;
       Whereas any export subsidies on pork, including those on 
     exports from South Korea to Japan, would violate South 
     Korea's international trade agreements and may be actionable 
     under the World Trade Organization;
       Whereas South Korea's subsidies are hindering U.S. pork and 
     beef producers from capturing their full potential in the 
     Japanese market, which is the largest export market for U.S. 
     pork and beef, importing nearly $700,000,000 of U.S. pork and 
     over $1,500,000,000 of U.S. beef last year alone;
       Whereas under the United States-Korea 1993 Record of 
     Understanding on Market Access for Beef, which was negotiated 
     pursuant to a 1989 GATT Panel decision against Korea, South 
     Korea was allowed to delay full liberalization of its beef 
     market (in an exception to WTO rules) if it would agree to 
     import increasing minimum quantities of beef each year until 
     the year 2001;
       Whereas South Korea fell woefully short of its beef market 
     access commitment for 1998; and,
       Whereas United States pork and beef producers are not able 
     to compete fairly with Korean livestock producers, who have a 
     high cost of production, because South Korea has violated 
     trade agreements and implemented protectionist policies: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) Believes strongly that while a stable global 
     marketplace is in the best interest of America's farmers and 
     ranchers, the United States should seek a mutually beneficial 
     relationship without hindering the competitiveness of 
     American agriculture;
       (2) Calls on South Korea to abide by its trade commitments;
       (3) Calls on the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the 
     United States Executive Director of the International 
     Monetary Fund to promote vigorously policies that encourage 
     the opening of markets for beef and pork products by 
     requiring South Korea to abide by its existing international 
     trade commitments and to reduce trade barriers, tariffs, and 
     export subsidies;
       (4) Calls on the President and the Secretaries of the 
     Treasury and Agriculture to monitor and report to Congress 
     that resources will not be used to stabilize the South Korean 
     market at the expense of U.S. agricultural goods or services; 
     and
       (5) Requests the United States Trade Representative and the 
     U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue bilateral 
     consultations with the Government of South Korea on its 
     failure to abide by its international trade commitments on 
     beef market access, to consider whether Korea's reported 
     plans for subsidizing its pork industry would violate any

[[Page S1015]]

     of its international trade commitments, and to determine what 
     impact Korea's subsidy plans would have on U.S. agricultural 
     interests, especially in Japan.

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