Seoul Unveils Shopping List of U.S. Goods

South Korea unveiled a shopping list of 2.6 billion dlrs of U.S. Goods in line with its new policy of seeking to limiting its trade surplus to ease trade friction with Washington.

The government said this would help freeze this year’s trade surplus with the United States at the 1986 level.

“The surplus, which rose to 7.4 billion dollars last year from 4.3 billion in 1985, was projected to top 10 billion this year but the government has taken steps to constrain it to the seven billion dollar level,” one Trade Ministry official told Reuters.

A government statement said the 2.6 billion dlrs was in addition to about two billion dlrs of purchases made last month by a South Korean trade mission to the United States.

The announcement follows a visit here this week by U.S. Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige, who said that if South Korea wanted to avoid protectionist retaliation it should not falter in its policies to open its market and cut its surplus.

The statement said the government, state agencies and other public institutions would buy 480 mln dlrs worth of U.S. Cars, computers, helicopters, ambulances, motorcycles, medical and laboratory equipment and other products. “This amounts includes 89 mln dlrs worth of purchases which were not originally reflected in their budgets,” it added.

The list includes 1.13 billion dlrs of capital goods, 700 mln of farm products, 50 mln of aluminium, zinc, polyethylene and other raw materials, and 250 mln of steel, electronics and shipbuilding parts which would be shifted from other nations.

Agriculture Ministry officials said South Korea had already bought 310 mln dlrs worth of U.S. Wheat, raw cotton, corn and soybeans.

This meant the country would buy from the United States nearly all of the 1.27 billion dlrs of its planned imports of such commodities this year, they said.

The government will also take steps to reduce tariffs, accelerate the opening of its markets, voluntarily restrain exports and cut export financing, the statement said.

South Korea will also reorganise the country’s 3,600 trade agents to deliver better after-sales services for imported products and hold a trade show in November for U.S. Products.