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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 4

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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 26, 1999

Mr. ASHCROFT (for himself and Mr. BAUCUS) submitted the following

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance

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.

Whereas Asia is the largest regional export market for America’s farmers and ranchers, traditionally purchasing approximately 40 percent of all United States 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;
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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

United States 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 100,000,000,000

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
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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 United States

pork and beef producers from capturing their full potential in the Japanese market, which is the largest export

market for United States pork and beef, importing nearly

$700,000,000 of United States pork and over

$1,500,000,000 of United States 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

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That Congress—
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1 (1) believes strongly that while a stable global

2 marketplace is in the best interest of America’s

3 farmers and ranchers, the United States should seek

4 a mutually beneficial relationship without hindering

5 the competitiveness of American agriculture;

6 (2) calls on South Korea to abide by its trade

7 commitments;

8 (3) calls on the Secretary of the Treasury to in9 struct the United States Executive Director of the

10 International Monetary Fund to promote vigorously

11 policies that encourage the opening of markets for

12 beef and pork products by requiring South Korea to

13 abide by its existing international trade commit14 ments and to reduce trade barriers, tariffs, and ex15 port subsidies;

16 (4) calls on the President and the Secretaries of

17 Treasury and Agriculture to monitor and report to

18 Congress that resources will not be used to stabilize

19 the South Korean market at the expense of United

20 States agricultural goods or services; and

21 (5) requests the United States Trade Rep22 resentative and the United States Department of

23 Agriculture to continue bilateral consultations with

24 the Government of South Korea on its failure to

25 abide by its international trade commitments on beef
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1 market access, to consider whether Korea’s reported

2 plans for subsidizing its pork industry would violate

3 any of its international trade commitments, and to

4 determine what impact Korea’s subsidy plans would

5 have on United States agricultural interests, espe6 cially in Japan.

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