Trump to Renegotiate US-Korea Free Trade Agreement

President Donald Trump has instructed his team to prepare to renegotiate the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, a White House spokeswoman said Friday. "At the direction of the president, Ambassador [Robert] Lighthizer is calling a special joint committee meeting to begin the process of renegotiating and amending the deal," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.Further details were not available, but Trump said at the White House Friday morning that the two countries were going to address trade irritants. "Our teams are going to get to work on these issues and they're going to sign a deal that's great for South Korea and great for the United States," Trump said. Reaction on the Hill was a degree of surprise."I'm a little surprised by the decision to renegotiate our Korea trade agreement when there is such urgency for us to address America's absence in the larger Asia-Pacific region," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R., Texas, said in a statement. He noted Trump would need to follow the procedures in the 2015 trade promotion authority – the White House needs to give Congress 90 days notice before negotiating trade agreements.