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19:28, 03-Sep-2017
Trump weighs withdrawal from US-S. Korea free trade deal
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US President Donald Trump said he would discuss the fate of a five-year-old US-South Korean free trade deal with his advisers next week, in a move that could see him pull out of the accord with a key American ally at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Reuters reported Sunday.
The statement came after Trump agreed to renegotiate North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“It is very much on my mind,” Trump told reporters during a visit to hurricane-hit Houston when asked about the next move on the pact and whether he is talking to advisers.
Trump has earlier threatened to withdraw from the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) which was signed by his predecessor Barack Obama back in 2012.
He called the accord “unequal” because of the surging trade deficit with South Korea.
Since the KORUS went into effect, the US’s deficit in trade with South Korea has doubled from 13.2 billion US dollars to 27.6 billion US dollars, and US commodity exports shrank, said US Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer last month after meeting with South Korean officials.
South Korea, however, said the two sides disagreed on the causes of deficits and whether to amend the deal, CNBC reported.
Before taking actions on KORUS, Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an ambitious trade accord initiated by Obama.
Trump also renewed his threat to scrap the 23-year-old NAFTA on August 27 when trade negotiators were preparing the second round talks in Mexico City.
Source(s): Reuters