If the United Auto Workers are still griping about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was passed way back during the Clinton Administration, then it is no surprise that it is against a similar free trade agreement with Korea.
This time, though, they have a powerful partner. It seems that Chrysler is joining the UAW in opposition.
Chrysler is against the agreement because it would not open Korea up to imported vehicles.
Note that the automaker sold 4,100 vehicles in Korea last year. That may sound paltry but it is more than General Motors and Ford sold in that country during the same period of time.
Imported vehicles sold in Korea accounted for just 5 percent of the entire Korean auto market. Still, sales have increased this year and has shown an increase of 6.5 percent during the first seven months.
The president of the UAW, Ron Gettelfinger, said that the trade accord would worsen the trade deficit the U.S. has with Korea. It would immediately lift the tariff on automobiles and auto parts coming from Korea and phase out the tariff on imported pickup trucks over 10 years.
Believe it or not, about 80 percent of the American trade deficit with Korea is in automobiles, with Korean auto makers exporting70 percent of their production, 16 percent of which went to the U.S.
A Chrysler exec also said that Korea does not deserve a new agreement because it didn’t honor two previous auto trade agreements with the U.S.
Our take? We may have to side with the UAW and Chrysler here. Why does the U.S. have to be the dumping ground for everyone's products?