http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/current/politics/stories/uskoreatrade.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The United States is preparing for another trade skirmish over automobiles -- with Korea, not Japan -- and it expects support from its European trading partners this time around.
Talks so far with Seoul have produced few results in unlocking Korea's car market to imports, U.S. officials said, adding that they were unsure whether progress could be made by the end of September, when U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor has to decide whether to initiate action against Korea.
U.S. and Korean trade negotiators have met more than a dozen times since mid-1994 to try to resolve the trade dispute, and another round of talks was expected to be held in mid-September, officials said.
``We would much prefer an agreement to having to keep knocking on the door,'' said Marie Kissel, senior analyst with the American Automobile Manufacturers Association. ``The Koreans have not moved for over a year and they need to be doing more.''
The association, which represents the Big Three American car manufacturers, asked Kantor to put Korea on a priorty list for action that could lead to U.S. sanctions if no progress is made on opening its market to foreign car imports.
Kantor has until Sept. 27 to decide. That is when he will report to Congress on what trade actions he plans for the coming year.
The same process started the ball rolling last year on the U.S. fight with Japan over car trade. The two sides reached agreement in late June after Washington moved to slap high duties on Japanese luxury car imports.
Kantor could step toward sanctions or take a complaint to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. That approach probably would gain more support from U.S. trading partners and produce less backlash in Korea, trade analysts said.
The issues this time are different than they were with Japan. But U.S. officials say the end result is the same -- a sanctuary market that keeps out foreign competitors while Korean companies aggressively move into other countries.
Korea has one of the fastest-growing car markets in the world and the smallest penetration of imports, the officials said.