U.S. ‘America First’ Policy Report Stresses ‘Significant Scope’ to Improve Existing U.S. Trade Pacts

Washington: A U.S. government policy report has underscored the need to enhance existing U.S. trade pacts, fueling speculation that President Donald Trump's administration could seek an overhaul of the free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea in line with its "America First" policy. On its website Thursday, the White House released an executive summary of the report to the president on America First trade policy following a review of 14 comprehensive trade agreements that are currently in force with 20 U.S. trading partners.According to Yonhap News Agency, the release came amid expectations that Trump could seek a revision to the South Korea-U.S. FTA or possibly a new trade deal as his administration put South Korea on the "worst offenders" list subject to reciprocal tariffs set to take effect next Wednesday. "There is significant scope to modernize existing U.S. trade agreements so that trade terms are aligned with American interests while addressing underlying causes of imbalances," the summary read.The report enumerated a series of areas where trade pacts can be modernized. This includes lowering foreign tariff rates for American exporters, improving transparency and predictability in foreign regulatory regimes, improving market access for U.S. agricultural products, strengthening rules of origin to ensure the benefits of the agreement appropriately flow to the parties, and improving the alignment of U.S. trading partners with American approaches to economic security and non-market policies and practices.On Wednesday, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, including 25 percent duties for South Korea, as Seoul and other governments have been seeking to cut deals for tariff exemptions or at least to minimize the impact of the growing list of new U.S. levies. The report also took issue with the United States' "reciprocal defense procurement" (RDP) agreements, known as free trade pacts in the defense industry sector.It noted that while defense procurement is closed to partners of the World Trade Organizati on's Agreement on Government Procurement, the Pentagon still gives countries access to the U.S. defense procurement market by negotiating RDP agreements. "Shockingly, these RDPs not only open our market to foreign suppliers, but also require U.S. firms to move industrial capacity offshore as a condition of access to the markets of partner countries. These RDPs must be reviewed to ensure they put America First," it said. Seoul has been pushing to sign a RDP agreement with the U.S. to reduce trade barriers and boost bilateral exchanges.