US signs FTA with South Korea

South Korea is the USA’s seventh largest trading partner, with two-way goods trade in 2006 valued at approximately US$78bn. In 2006, the two countries exchanged 35m tonnes of seaborne cargo with a total value of some US$44.5bn. When implemented, the KORUS-FTA will expand trade and investment flows between the two countries.

Upon ratification, the FTA will eliminate and phase out tariffs and quotas on a broad range of products. Under the agreement, roughly US$1.91bn, or 64%, of South Korea’s agricultural imports from the US will immediately be duty-free. Nearly 95% of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products will be duty-free within three years of the agreement entering into force, with virtually all remaining tariffs eliminated within 10 years.

In particular, the FTA eliminates tariffs and non-tariff barriers that US auto-makers have identified as impediments to their success in the South Korean market.