US signs free-trade accord with South Korea
The U.S. and South Korea have signed a free-trade agreement which if ratified by the Congress could be worth as much as $29 billion and the largest for the U.S. since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

The agreement will remove duties on products like South Korean autos and apparel, and cut investment barriers for American insurers and financial companies. South Korea will abolish its 40 percent tariff on U.S. beef over 15 years and the pork tariff over 10 years, Rice however isn't included in the accord.

The accord will result in U.S scrapping tariffs on Korean cars with engines of three liters or less and on auto parts. It will also phase out duties on bigger engines within three years, on tires within five years and on pick-up trucks within 10. South Korea exported $6.6 billion a year in automobiles to the U.S. between 2003 and 2005. Auto part exports during the same period averaged $1.4 billion annually. Trade between the two nations was worth about $77 billion in 2006, according to South Korea's Commerce Ministry. A free-trade agreement may boost U.S. exports to Asia's third-largest economy by as much as $19 billion annually, while South Korea stands to get a $10 billion jump in exports to the U.S., according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Negotiators extended the talks after missing a self-imposed March 31 deadline. President George W. Bush's authority to negotiate trade deals that can't be altered by Congress expires on June 30.
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Pres George Bush defeated on environment by Supreme Court ruling
Washington: The US Supreme Court has ruled that U.S. environmental officials have the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that increase global warming. By a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change.

The high court ruled that such greenhouse gases from motor vehicles fall within the law's definition of an air pollutant.
The ruling in one of the most important environmental cases to reach the Supreme Court marked the first high court decision in a case involving global warming.

President George W. Bush has opposed mandatory controls on greenhouse gases as harmful to the U.S. economy, and the administration instead has called for voluntary programs.

In 2003, the EPA refused to regulate the emissions, saying it lacked the power to do so. Even if it had the power, the EPA said it would be unwise to do it and would impair Bush's ability to negotiate with developing nations to cut emissions.
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