01/03/07 South Korea trade

South Korea Trade One country is sure getting a lot of press lately. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you which country and why. South Korea agreed to start importing American beef again, but has turned down early shipments of the first beef to arrive there. Reasons for refusing to accept delivery run from political to micro-interpretation of the rules for beef importation. Specifications for U.S. beef entering South Korea called for boneless beef, which was fine with U.S. exporters. The trouble lies in what South Korea defines as boneless and what U.S. assumes is boneless beef. The deboning process n the United States is accomplished using machines to strip the beef from bones. With this process, once in a while a small piece of bone or cartilage will be present with the meat. This is what South Korean inspectors found in ten metric tons of U.S. beef  one piece of bone fragment the size of a half a grain of rice. I guess this situation would be considered a mistake on our part for not getting a clear definition of what South Korea considers boneless beef or just how South Korea interprets rules of trade. Right now talks are ongoing concerning a free trade agreement with this country. If the beef trade issue is any indication of how trade rules are used by South Korea, maybe the U.S. should be a little cautious about cementing free trade rules or at the very least more forceful negotiating our needs with South Korean trade. After all there is a big difference between free trade and fair trade. I'm Jeff Keane.