Chrysler won’t support South Korea trade deal

The Chrysler Group LLC has joined the Ford Motor Co. in publicly opposing a trade deal with South Korea.

U.S. and South Korean trade negotiators on Tuesday entered another day of talks on the controversial agreement ahead of a visit to South Korea by President Obama that begins on Monday.

The two auto companies oppose the deal because they said it would allow greater access to the U.S. market for South Korean auto products without doing enough to open the Korean market. South Korea enjoys a heavy trade advantage over the U.S. in automobiles. 

Chrysler noted in a statement that it had “supported every free trade agreement negotiated by the U.S. government,” but said “we cannot support this agreement in its current form."

“The United States is already open to Korean vehicles and that’s why the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement must be used to fully and irreversibly open Korea to American-made vehicles.”

Ford has been a louder voice against the deal. It launched an aggressive advertising campaign against the agreement last week.

The third big U.S. automaker, GM, owns South Korea’s fourth-largest automaker and has been quieter about the agreement. But any concessions granted to the U.S. for Ford and Chrysler could also benefit GM.

The Obama administration hopes to have reached a deal on the agreement that would allow it to be presented to Congress by the time the president leaves Seoul later this week.