South Korean and US negotiators have reached partial deals for a free trade pact, Seoul's trade ministry said on Sunday, but agreement on opening up the hotly contested automobile and agricultural markets remained elusive.
Negotiators are racing to seal the deal, which studies said could add about $20 billion to their annual $71.5 billion in trade, before the end-March expiry of a White House authority to negotiate pacts Congress can approve or reject but not amend.
"The two countries reached agreement on the customs area focused on simplifying and speeding up customs procedures on cargo, inspection of place of origin to prevent imports of third-country goods and on procedures for cooperation on customs issues," South Korea's trade ministry said in a statement.
The agreement on customs procedures followed successful conclusion of talks on government procurement on Saturday and anti-trust regulations on Thursday.
But negotiations on automobiles and farm goods remained far from over and were likely to extend beyond this last formal round of talks that are scheduled to end on Monday, South Korea's chief negotiator told reporters.
"Contentious issues that will remain until the very end will probably be agriculture for us and automobiles for the United States," Kim was quoted as saying in South Korean media.
Kim said he and his US counterpart, Wendy Cutler, would continue talks to try to craft last-minute compromises, as will the trade ministers of the two countries.
Seoul is seeking an immediate removal of US tariff on automobile imports while Washington wants the end of what it sees as South Korea's non-tariff barriers, such as auto tax based on engine displacement, which it says discriminates against US cars.
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