Korea continues to push for more free trade deals
Arirang | 2014-03-13
Korea continues to push for more free trade deals
It’s been ten years since Korea signed its first bilateral free trade agreement with Chile.
Since then, the trade volume between the two countries has increased more than four-fold topping seven billion U.S. dollars last year.
The Korean government has been on a blitz signing many more FTAs over the last decade with the most recent concluded negotiation being Seoul’s trade pact with Canada.
The local automobile and auto parts industry will likely benefit the most when the Canada deal takes effect.
The Korea-U.S. FTA will welcome its two-year anniversary on Saturday but opinions about whether the Korean economy has benefited from the much contested deal over the past two years have been mixed.
Last year, the government said Seoul’s trade surplus with Washington jumped 44 percent compared to before the deal was ratified.
But some industry experts say improved exports to the U.S. were on the back of a recovery in advanced economies, rather than the bilateral trade deal.
It remains to be seen whether the government and experts will be able to evaluate the economic effects of the Korea-U.S. deal with one voice this year.
Another trade deal drawing much attention is the Korea-China FTA.
The tenth round of negotiations will take place in Korea this month.
The draft for tariff concessions on highly sensitive items — mostly being agricultural products from Korea — has been exchanged and will be discussed in detail at the upcoming talks.
Although analysts estimate Korea’s GDP will increase by up to 3 percent in the ten years after the deal is signed, skeptics say the bilateral pact will devastate Korea’s agricultural sector.
Those for — and against — the government’s initiative to sign more free trade deals continue to lock horns and its still unclear whether the government’s on-going FTA negotiations will help or harm the Korean economy.
Laah Hyun-kyung, Arirang News.
Reporter : jlaah@arirang.co.kr
