Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) today made the following statements in reaction to the signing of the EU-South Korea free trade agreement today, with a provisional implementation date scheduled for July 1, 2011.

Camp said: “Today’s signing of the EU-South Korea free trade agreement is a stark reminder that American exporters and workers are in danger of falling further behind as other countries complete free trade agreements without us.  If we do not act to quickly resolve the outstanding issues of autos and beef, the EU will obtain a significant competitive advantage over U.S. businesses and workers in the South Korean market.  We cannot afford to let that happen, and I am encouraged by the President’s leadership in engaging with South Korea on these issues.  We must make every effort to take advantage of the limited window of opportunity created for us by the G-20 meeting in November.  Unfortunately, this announcement also serves as a reminder that the Colombia and Panama agreements have been allowed to languish for far too long.  The President set a clear timeline to complete the South Korea agreement, and I urge him to set similar deadlines to complete the Colombia and Panama agreements in six months.  Implementing these trade agreements will boost our economy and help create good paying jobs here in the U.S.” 

Brady stated: “If we are to achieve the President’s goal of doubling exports by 2015, we must be aggressively opening new markets to U.S. exports so that we can “sell American” around the world.  Today’s announcement that the EU and South Korea have signed their free trade agreement only underscores the urgent need for the Administration to resolve the outstanding issues quickly and submit the agreement to Congress for its prompt consideration.  South Korea is a key security and trading partner to the United States and a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region for American products and services.  Congress has ignored this important agreement for over three years, and now the Europeans are threatening to leave us behind.  If the EU implements its agreement first, U.S. job creators and workers could lose billions of dollars in exports."

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