Free trade pacts that went into effect in the last decade played a role in fueling South Korean exports. According to the Korea International Trade Association, nine open trade arrangements reached so far allowed local companies to make further inroads into 46 countries, helped by the lowering of tariffs and other trade barriers.
It said the free trade agreement with Chile that went into effect in April 2004 led the two-way trade to grow an average of 16.3 percent annually, with the total volume hitting $7.12 billion last year from just $1.58 billion in 2003. Exports to the South American country have grown an average of 16.9 percent in the past 10 years, with imports gaining 16 percent.
In the case of the trade pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that went into full swing in June 2006, trade grew 11.8 percent on average annually, with outbound shipment gains hitting 14.4 percent. This is a higher rate of growth than the 8.1 percent export growth tallied for the entire country in the past seven years. Numbers for the FTA with the European Union that went into effect in July 2011 revealed trade expanding an average 4.4 percent per year in the last three years. For the trade agreement with the United States that has been in force for two years, South Korea's exports were up 5.1 percent. This is said be again better than the overall growth figures tallied in 2012 and 2013.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140330000326
2 comments:
This article is an example of the continued growth of FTAs between distant and culturally heterogeneous nations. MercoSur trading with the EU, US having FTAs with Colombia and Panama, and even ASEAN's economic activities are producing a more economically globalized world. The more trade continues to grow internationally, the better off consumers will be. Competition will increase, incentivizing investment and capital movement across state borders.
While I myself am very happy at the growth from free trade and the addition of new free trade pacts, I think it is rather naive that the article is focusing simply on the positives of it. For free trade simply does not benefit all. Firms that have relied on tariffs to stay afloat will eventually have to close. Farms will especially take a huge hit considering that there are far more farms in the US, which outproduce their competitors (it was what originally caused the British Corn Laws in the early 19th century).
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