ID :
201757
Wed, 08/17/2011 - 00:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/201757
The shortlink copeid
Hyundai, Kia drive Obama's push for FTA with S. Korea
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- The growing popularity of South Korean automobiles is evident not only on American roads but also through the statements of President Barack Obama.
"We've got folks in America driving Kias and Hyundais. I want to see folks in Korea driving Fords and Chryslers and Chevys," Obama said Tuesday at a forum on the rural economy in Iowa.
Obama was emphasizing the need for a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, signed in 2007 but not yet ratified by Congress.
It was the fourth time in a week that the president publicly mentioned the South Korean auto brands.
He is on a bus tour to the Midwestern states of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
South Korea ships more than 400,000 vehicles, mostly Hyudais and Kias, to the U.S. each year and produces about 200,000 others at local plants. The U.S. exports fewer than 10,000 cars to South Korea, according to market data.
The market share of Hyundais and Kias in the U.S. reached 9.9 percent last month. Fourteen percent of sedans sold in the U.S. in July were made by the carmakers.
"We should pass trade deals that will level the playing field for American companies. I want to sell goods all over the world that are stamped with three words: 'Made in America'" Obama said. "And no folks benefit more than rural Americans when it comes to our trade."
"We've got folks in America driving Kias and Hyundais. I want to see folks in Korea driving Fords and Chryslers and Chevys," Obama said Tuesday at a forum on the rural economy in Iowa.
Obama was emphasizing the need for a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, signed in 2007 but not yet ratified by Congress.
It was the fourth time in a week that the president publicly mentioned the South Korean auto brands.
He is on a bus tour to the Midwestern states of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
South Korea ships more than 400,000 vehicles, mostly Hyudais and Kias, to the U.S. each year and produces about 200,000 others at local plants. The U.S. exports fewer than 10,000 cars to South Korea, according to market data.
The market share of Hyundais and Kias in the U.S. reached 9.9 percent last month. Fourteen percent of sedans sold in the U.S. in July were made by the carmakers.
"We should pass trade deals that will level the playing field for American companies. I want to sell goods all over the world that are stamped with three words: 'Made in America'" Obama said. "And no folks benefit more than rural Americans when it comes to our trade."
