Nelson: No Beef Agreement, No Trade Agreement

Statement

NELSON: NO BEEF AGREEMENT, NO TRADE AGREEMENT

Nebraska's Senator Vows to Vote 'No' on Korea Trade Agreement

Nebraska's Senator Nelson announced today that he would vote no on the proposed U.S.-South Korea trade agreement unless the beef issue is resolved.

Immediately after agreeing to accept shipments of U.S. beef in the fall of 2006, Korea rejected the first three shipments based on their claim that the shipments contained bone fragments. The Korean government has since refused to agree to resume full trade in compliance with international science-based standards.

Despite this lack of progress, the U.S. Trade Representative today announced that the American government had crafted a trade agreement with the Korean government. Korea has agreed only to work with the American government to resolve the beef issue in the future.

Nelson issued the following statement on the proposed agreement:

"There is still no deal on the beef issue, so in my mind, there is no trade agreement. I'm dismayed that the Trade Representative was satisfied by vague promises for future cooperation rather than a guarantee that American beef would no longer be unfairly shut-out of the Korean market, especially given Korea's track record on the issue.

"I have communicated to the Korean Ambassador that full trade must resume for the Senate to consider passing a free-trade agreement. I thought they understood this when they took steps to allow some American beef to enter Korean markets. However, it appears that that was as far as they were willing to go. It's not far enough and I will work with my colleagues to block this agreement as long as the beef issue remains unresolved.

"As we saw with Japan, and as we now see with Korea, other nations all too eagerly find excuses to block imports of our products. And our producers are rightfully reluctant to ship to nations that have a history of blocking trade on capricious grounds. This agreement only shows those nations that we will buckle under if they hold out long enough. We need to send a new message - unfair targeting of our agriculture products will lead to an end to trade agreements."

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