US agricultural secretary Tom Vilsack underlined the benefits ratifying a US-Korea Free Trade Agreement would bring to the country at a media conference on Tuesday.
Negotiations between the two countries have concluded with the document now before congress in the US.
In a media release the USDA stated that if ratified the agreement would expand agricultural exports to Korea by US$1.8bn.
'Economic output is estimated to grow more under this agreement than from our last nine trade agreements combined,” said Mr Vilsack. “This agreement immediately eliminates duties on the majority of US farm products exported to Korea and eliminates duties over time on many others.”
He stressed that congress needed to move swiftly in ratifying the agreement. “If we do not act quickly and decisively, America’s competitors will secure their own trade deals with Korea, and our competitors’ products will achieve an advantage at the expense of American productivity.'
The US provided almost 30 percent of Korea’s total agricultural imports in 2010, stated the media release.
Between 1 October 2009 and 30 September 2010 US exports to Korea totalled nearly US$5bn, making that country the fith-largest market for US agricultural exports.
No comments yet