AJC International:Home

Reuters Wednesday, September 13, 2006; 5:20 AM SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will not allow rice to be part of a free trade deal with the United States but it is willing to discuss lowering tariffs on beef imports, the agriculture minister said on Wednesday. U.S. trade officials pressed Seoul to make a better offer on opening its agricultural sector to U.S. imports during the third round of negotiations on a bilateral free trade deal between the economic powers last week in Seattle. Senate Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said that any legislation on interrogating terrorism suspects must preserve our intelligence programs and must protect classified information from terrorists. (Melina Mara -- The Washington Post) SEE FULL COLLECTION Feedback In Today's A Section • Cuts in Iraq Forces Are Unlikely Before Spring • Thai Army Deposes Prime Minister • Boeing Wins Deal For Border Security • One-Year Wonder • This Just In: The Iraq Study Group Has Nothing to Report » More in Today's Print Edition Save & Share Tag This Article Saving options 1. Save to description: Headline (required) 2. Save to notes (255 character max): Blurb 3. Tag This Article "There will be no negotiation in rice between the two countries. We will not respond to any request on rice," Agriculture Minister Park Hong-soo told a local radio program, reiterating Seoul's strong stance on the sensitive issue. But when asked whether lowering or scrapping tariffs on U.S. beef imports could be part of future talks, Park responded: "Yes" on the KBS radio show. South Korea's tariff on U.S. beef imports is currently 40 percent. The United States and South Korea began negotiations in June on the trade agreement and the United States wants to reach a final deal by the end of the year. South Korea, once the world's third-largest export market for American beef, announced last week it had decided to lift a three-year ban on U.S beef imports that had been imposed because of concerns over mad cow disease. The first deliveries are likely to arrive in South Korea in late September and the meat should be on store shelves in October. South Korea is the seventh-largest trading partner of the United States. Two-way trade was about $72 billion last year. South Korea struck a separate deal with the United States and other rice exporters under the auspices of the World Trade Organization to open wider the country's protected rice market