The Inside U.S. Trade reported on September 4 that the United States demanded the opening of the South Korean agricultural market on August 22 at the two countries’ joint committee meeting.
The meeting covered the KORUS FTA, claiming that the elimination of the tariffs it imposes on agricultural products imported from South Korea should be postponed by five to 10 years from the deadline stipulated in the free trade agreement.
When the KORUS FTA was signed, the South Korean government excluded the 16 sensitive items including rice from the list of concession items. It maintained the previous tariffs when it comes to items likely to be significantly affected by complete tariff elimination, providing certain tariff rate quotas or imposing seasonal tariffs.
At present, tariffs on 545 items are estimated to still remain including on garlic, pears and apples among other goods. It is the immediate elimination of the tariffs on these items that the U.S. demanded last month.
Source: businesskorea.co.kr
