To Better Deal with Trade Uncertainties
The South Korean and U.S. governments agreed to beef up their cooperation based on the KORUS FTA with trade environments becoming increasingly volatile due to the spread of COVID-19.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) held their fifth KORUS FTA Joint Committee meeting on April 2. Deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish and Kim Seung-ho, deputy minister for multilateral and legal affairs at the ministry, presided over the teleconference.
The meeting was the first joint committee meeting after a KORUS FTA revision protocol became effective early this year. At the conference, both sides confirmed that their specific agreements pertaining to the KORUS FTA have been thoroughly fulfilled.
“We exchanged opinions as to our fields of interest such as trade remedies, professional services and the textile and automobile industries and fixed future schedules,” the ministry explained, adding, “In addition, we agreed to strengthen both bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the framework of the KORUS FTA to better deal with trade uncertainties caused by the spread of COVID-19.”