KITA Held Meeting to Cope with KORUS FTA Renegotiation

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) held a meeting on August 24 in order to cope with KORUS FTA renegotiation. “The U.S. trade policy advisory committee consisting of private industry representatives already submitted its opinions on the KORUS FTA to the administration,” said KITA Chairman Kim In-ho, adding, “We also need to raise our voice during our talks with the South Korean government while backing up the government during its negotiations with the United States.”

According to the association, South Korea’s trade surplus with the United States has declined, in contrast to what has been claimed by the Donald Trump administration, since 2015 after the signing of the free trade agreement. The surplus reached US$25.808 billion in 2015 but fell to US$23.246 billion last year. For the first five months of this year, it decreased by US$4.072 billion from a year ago to US$6.855 billion.

Meanwhile, U.S. products’ share in the South Korean import market increased from 8.5% to 10.64% between 2011 and 2016, the fifth year of the agreement.

Many in various industries are also pointing out that import restrictions now stricter than before are doing damage to South Korea. The number of new anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations in the U.S. began to increase in 2015, totaled five last year, and reached seven in the first half of this year alone. According to the KITA, South Korea is likely to suffer the most once the import restrictions take concrete shape.