[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 152 (Wednesday, October 12, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1824-E1825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE U.S.-KOREA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT: A NO WIN SITUATION FOR AMERICA AND 
                              ITS WORKERS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 12, 2011

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, why would Congress pass three leftover Bush 
NAFTA-style ``free trade'' agreements with Korea, Panama and Colombia?
  A report issued by the Economic Policy Institute concluded that the 
Korea FTA agreement not only fails to create jobs for American workers, 
it would result in the net loss of 159,000 U.S. jobs in its first seven 
years. And when one considers the details of the agreement, it is not 
hard to see why.
  Under the proposed Korea FTA, the United States will eliminate 
tariffs on South Korean cars and trucks, increasing South Korean 
imports here, without requiring them to buy more of our vehicles. As a 
concession, South Korea did agree to waive certain environmental and 
safety requirements for up to 25,000 cars per U.S. maker--if suddenly 
there is demand for U.S. cars in South Korea, whose consumers 
historically have not bought U.S. imports. More than 95 percent of the 
cars sold in South Korea today are made in South Korea.
  Additionally, no changes were made to the low domestic content rules. 
Under the proposed agreement, up to 65 percent of the value of a 
vehicle can be sourced in low-wage nations like China and still qualify 
for the FTA's duty-free access. As a result, this agreement is an open 
invitation to the auto industry to send American auto parts jobs to 
China. Indeed, the Korean Auto Workers Union opposes this FTA because 
the low domestic content rules will also invite the South Korean parts 
industry to outsource their jobs to China. Meanwhile, Europe's trade 
agreement with South Korea requires 55 percent domestic content. Even 
NAFTA required 50 percent domestic content.
  But while this FTA does not follow NAFTA's domestic content 
requirements, it does replicate NAFTA's special privileges for foreign 
investors. This allows foreign investors to evade domestic courts and 
use foreign tribunals to get reimbursed for regulatory costs from U.S. 
taxpayers. There are more than 270 Korean corporate affiliates in the 
U.S. who would be empowered to use these tribunals to raid our Treasury 
if the Korea FTA were implemented.
  Among the laws exposed to attack are financial regulations that the 
U.S. and Korea implemented to restore stability after the devastating 
global financial crisis. The banks and securities firms that wrecked 
the global economy would be newly empowered under this deal to attack 
the policies designed to get them under control. Not surprisingly, the 
Korea FTA is loved by Wall Street's titans.
  And the FTA even includes President Bush's ban on references to the 
International Labor Organization's Conventions--the global labor 
standard. The agreement does nothing to require South Korean labor law 
to be put on equal footing with U.S. law, as under South Korean law, 
union members can be fired for striking and then sued for their 
employers' lost profits. The AFL-CIO, Teamsters, and many other 
American and Korean unions oppose this FTA.
  With the Big Three beginning to recover and hire more workers thanks 
to major U.S. government assistance, it seems problematic that Congress 
would support an agreement that could boost the auto industry's 
profits, but only at the cost of more off-shored jobs.
  The proposed Korea FTA is a bad deal for our country and America's 
workers. It's time to put the American worker first and stop these 
trade deals.

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