’FTA Will Hurt Agriculture’
A report released Wednesday said South Korea’s agricultural sector could lose up to 8.8 trillion won ($9.39 billion) if a U.S.-South Korean free trade agreement goes through.
“The estimated losses are based on an assumption that if all tariffs are drastically lifted…the local agricultural segment is expected to suffer at least a 5.4-trillion-won loss,’’ according to the report authored by Korea University professor Han Doo-bong.
According to the report, this worst-case scenario, if realized, would sharply undermine the domestic agricultural sector, which contributed 20 trillion won to the country’s gross domestic product last year.
The professor said the trade pact with the U.S. would help boost productivity but not bring any great benefits to the agricultural sector.
“There are no major export items… and the U.S. tariff rates for farm goods are already low,’’ the report said, forecasting agricultural exports to the U.S. would not increase sharply.
To minimize any damage or negative impact on the local agricultural sector, the South Korean government earlier announced measures costing more than 100 trillion won to help the agricultural sector.
South Korea and the U.S. agreed in February to hold the first round of formal negotiations on the free trade pact from June 5-9 in Washington, with the aim of finalizing the deal by the end of next March.