U.S. Wins Increased Access to Korea Market

The U.S. came to an agreement with South Korea over improving access to the Asian country’s auto market, averting the threat of U.S. sanctions on Korean car imports. The deal attempts to improve on a 1995 agreement that auto makers complained had failed to help them compete on equal terms in South Korea’s car market. The U.S. cited South Korea in October 1997 under the so-called Super 301 provisions of its trade law, which directs the administration to identify foreign trade practices that hurt U.S. exports. U.S. trade officials said the new accord, whose provisions will be phased in until 2005, could be enforced by reviving the 301 process if South Korea failed to live up to its terms.