The bilateral trade pact between South Korea and the U.S. went into effect in 2012.
More than half a decade has passed,... and today the two sides are holding talks for possibly amending the FTA as a result of the Trump administration's determination to renegotiate the deal.
Kim Hyesung tells us more.
It's been exactly six years since the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement entered into force on March 15th, 2012.
"Annual trade between Seoul and Washington has grown by an average of two-point-eight percent over the last six years. According to South Korea's trade ministry, bilateral trade amounted to 119-point-three billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up nearly nine percent on-year."
The U.S. remains South Korea's second largest exporting country after China, accounting for over eleven percent of the country's total trade last year,...led by petrochemical goods, vehicles and steel pipes.
South Korea is the United States' 6th largest trading partner.
Imports from the U.S. amounted to 50-point-7 billion dollars in 2017, led by goods like semiconductor manufacturing equipment, LPG and meat.
Korea's trade surplus with the U.S. increased in the first four years of the FTA.... but started to decrease from 2016. Last year, Korea's trade surplus slumped by over 23 percent on-year.
The free trade deal has been mutually beneficial. It helped South Korea enter the world's largest consumer market. Both countries' consumers were able to enjoy a variety of goods that are also cheaper. The U.S. benefited from services trade with Korea, especially in intellectual property, not to mention Korean companies' investments in the U.S."
Services trade between the two countries came to 43-point-two billion dollars in 2016, with Korea seeing a service trade deficit of nearly 14 billion dollars.
But with President Trump threatening to revise or withdraw from the FTA, complaining about America's deficit, the two countries launched talks earlier this year about a possible amendment to the deal.
The third round of talks is scheduled to be held in Washington on Thursday local time.
Seoul's Trade Ministry said Yoo Myung-hee, the director general for FTA negotiations,... will be negotiating with her U.S. counterpart, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Michael Beeman.
The two sides are expected to further discuss issues raised during their previous meetings like anti-dumping tariffs, auto exports, and investor-state dispute settlements,... and also the Trump administration's steel tariffs,... which are scheduled to go into effect on March 23rd.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
