The United States and South Korea sealed a new free trade agreement on Friday after a three-year stalemate on auto tariffs, creating a new centrepiece of President Barack Obama's economic agenda.
After nearly four days of talks in suburban Washington, negotiators cleared the main bottleneck to secure what would be the largest US trade pact since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1994.
"We've made substantial progress in our discussions. It's time now for the leaders to review this progress before we move forward," Ron Kirk, the US Trade Representative, said in a statement after the talks.
The South Korean embassy in Washington said the talks "have produced a substantial outcome on autos and other limited areas."
But the deal still needs ratification by the two countries' legislatures, where it has faced opposition. Some of Obama's fellow Democrats, backed by labour unions, earlier criticised the deal as hurting US workers.
Before entering the White House, Obama was a critic of the deal first negotiated in 2007 under his predecessor George W. Bush.
But the president has become its champion, saying free trade will create export opportunities to help bring down persistently high US unemployment.
Obama had set a goal of finishing the deal in time for his visit to Seoul last month for the Group of 20 summit, hoping to provide a boost to President Lee Myung-Bak, a close ally facing down soaring tensions with North Korea.
Negotiators failed to reach an agreement in time, largely due to US insistence at greater access for US automakers, which have scant presence in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Details were expected to be released late Friday Washington time on the trade deal, which people involved suspected would adjust the timeframe for tariff cuts of US and South Korean cars entering the other country.
Automakers led by Ford Motor Co and the United Autoworkers union had joined forces to oppose the original deal, which they feared would lead to a flood of Hyundai and other Korean cars by immediately eliminating US auto tariffs.
Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen denounced Obama for promoting the trade deal, which it said would give extensive rights to investors that would allow overseas legal challenges to US environmental and health safeguards.
Lori Wallach, director of the group's Global Trade Watch, said the agreement would prove unpopular and pose a threat to Obama's re-election hopes in 2012 because it may rekindle memories of earlier pacts modelled on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"Choosing to advance Bush's NAFTA-style Korea free trade agreement rather than the new trade policy President Obama promised during his campaign will mean more American job loss," she said.
But unlike many other issues, Obama may have an easier time winning approval for the trade deal after last month's congressional election sweep by rival Republicans, as most opposition to agreement came from the president's Democratic Party.
Another thorny issue on the trade agreement has been beef, with US lawmakers from farm states pressing South Korea to agree to buy more from older cattle.
South Korea has refused to budge on the beef issue, which triggered major street protests against Lee by Koreans concerned about the safety of US meat due to mad cow disease.
But the issue has appeared to have become less of an irritant as US negotiators look at statistics showing Koreans are unlikely to buy much meat from older cattle in any case.
South Korea has pinned its hopes on free trade as it tries to ensure a niche for a country situated between economic giants Japan and China.
It has also clinched a free trade agreement with the European Union modelled on the US pact, triggering fears from US businesses that they would be left at a competitive disadvantage without ratification.
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