STEEL?:

U.S. and South Korea set trade pact (Choe Sang-Hun, July 1, 2007, NY Times)

On Saturday, the U.S. trade representative, Susan Schwab, and South Korea's trade minister, Kim Hyun Chong, signed the trade pact, the largest for Washington since the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, in 1992. But Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress said that they would not approve it because it fails to open South Korea to more American cars.

The deal was the last signed before Bush's "fast-track" authority to negotiate such an agreement - one that Congress cannot revise and must approve or reject within 90 days of receiving it - expired on Saturday after five years in force.

If approved by the legislatures of both countries, the agreement could expand trade between the countries, already worth about $79 billion a year, as much as $20 billion, according to recent estimates by U.S. and South Korean economists.

Now it's time for business to use the influence it's been buying with Democrats.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 1, 2007 7:06 AM