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SKorea, EU reach tentative trade deal
AFP - Tuesday, March 24
SEOUL (AFP) - - South Korea and the European Union have reached a tentative trade deal after almost two years of talks and will try to settle outstanding issues early next month, both sides said Tuesday.
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The two sides "reached provisional agreement on almost all pending issues" during negotiations which began Monday, Seoul's foreign and trade ministry said in a statement.
They failed to reach a deal on some contentious matters such as rules of origin for products, it said, adding final agreement would be sought at trade ministers' talks in London on April 2.
EU negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero told a press conference the provisional deal is the "most ambitious" the EU has ever negotiated with an external partner.
But he cautioned that they remain "wide apart" in the two major outstanding issues -- duty drawback and rules of origin.
These will be directly negotiated by the trade ministers, Kim Jong-Hoon and Catherine Ashton, he said.
"Whether we can really conclude our negotiations will be decided between our two trade ministers," said Seoul's chief negotiator Lee Hye-Min.
South Korean officials have previously suggested the deal could be formally announced at the G20 meeting in London on April 2, to emphasise that protectionism is not the answer to the global economic slump.
"A successful free trade agreement between South Korea and the EU will send a message that the world should maintain trade liberalism and reject protectionism," Lee said Monday.
Regarding rules of origin, South Korea insists that items made at an Seoul-funded industrial complex in North Korea should be treated as South Korean goods.
Since South Korean manufacturers import many parts from China and elsewhere, the two sides must also agree what percentage of a finished item must be made in South Korea.
Seoul is also pressing Brussels to "draw back" duty paid on imported parts, especially for cars and electronic products, once the items are exported.
Lee said he is "neither optimistic nor pessimistic" on the outcome of the trade ministers' talks in London, describing duty drawback as the most contentious issue.
South Korean officials refused to confirm local news reports that the two sides have agreed to scrap tariffs on cars with an engine size of more than 2.5 litres within three years, and to scrap tariffs within five years for less powerful cars.
South Korea currently imposes an eight percent import duty on European cars, while the EU imposes a 10 percent duty on vehicles from South Korea.
Lee said his country had sought "exceptional" treatment on agricultural and other sensitive goods.
South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, and the EU, the world's single largest economic bloc, began talking in May 2007.
When concluded, the agreement would eliminate some 97 percent of tariffs on bilateral trade over the next five years, Bercero said Tuesday.
The 27-nation bloc was South Korea's second largest trading partner after China last year, with two-way trade worth more than 90 billion dollars.
The EU is the largest foreign investor in South Korea, with outstanding investment reaching 43.40 billion dollars at the end of 2007.
A deal with Europe would be a relief for Seoul after its free trade pact with the United States faltered. That agreement was signed in 2007 but needs ratification by the legislatures of both countries.
The new Obama administration has indicated it wants a partial renegotiation, something Seoul publicly opposes.
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