- Negotiations
Canada and South Korea are currently negotiating an FTA. The talks began in July 2005 but are yet to be concluded.
Both countries are aiming for a comprehensive agreement, with the Canadian government’s sights set on increasing food and forestry exports to Korea. But the implications for Canada are huge. Canada currently imports more cars than it exports and a deal with Seoul — headquarters of KIA, Hyundai and Daewoo (GM) — could gut Canada’s industry and with it 15,000 jobs. Korean farmers, labour groups and consumers, for their part, expect negative impacts on Korean food and agriculture. This includes strong potential problems around beef (numerous outbreaks of mad cow disease have already occurred in Canada) and barley.
last update: May 2012 | logo from the Canadian Auto Workers Local 200
14-Oct-2008
Chatham Daily News
"Regardless of who is in power federally, we cannot afford a free trade agreement with Korea," Canadian Auto Workers member Mike Byrne said, noting Korea sold 130,000 vehicles in Canada in 2005 and Canada sold 400 vehicles in Korea that same year.
10-Dec-2007
KCTU
On the eve of the 12th round of negotiations between Canada and Korea for a trade deal, the Canadian Labour Congress and Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, representing over four million workers in both countries, call on our respective governments to immediately halt these trade talks.
24-Nov-2007
Bloomberg
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said his country and South Korea aren’t close to a free-trade agreement because the Asian nation hasn’t pledged adequate access to its market.
23-Nov-2007
Ford may redirect future investment away from Canada if Ottawa concludes a free-trade deal with South Korea that doesn’t open up that country to auto imports, the company’s top Canadian executive said yesterday.
24-Oct-2007
Canada Press
The Canadian Auto Workers has called on the three opposition parties in Ottawa to vote down any Canada-Korea free trade agreement in order to save Canadian jobs. CAW’s internal analysis predicts the trade deal would cost over 33,000 jobs.
24-Oct-2007
Reuters
Canada is entering a difficult final phase of free-trade negotiations with South Korea and needs to secure a deal if it wants to be able to compete with the United States in Asia, Trade Minister David Emerson said on Tuesday.
9-Oct-2007
CTV
"A free trade deal with Korea will take a bad situation and make it worse...The government should cancel these talks," said Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove.
7-Oct-2007
Yonhap
South Korea and Canada will focus on barley, bean, potato and other farm products in free trade agreement talks that reopen in Ottawa this week
6-Jun-2007
Canadian trade officials will be carefully examining the free trade agreement recently inked by South Korea and the United States and applying any lessons learned to their own ongoing negotiations with the Asian country.
3-May-2007
South Korea will lift its ban on Canadian beef within the next three weeks, allowing the two countries to complete a free-trade agreement in the near future, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay predicted yesterday.