Describes bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that this country is party to, including with the United States. Includes websites and other resources where U.S. companies can get more information on how to take advantage of these agreements.
Last Published: 8/29/2019
The Republic of Korea and the United States implemented the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement on March 15, 2012.  The Agreement is the largest Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiated by the United States since NAFTA.  For more information about the KORUS FTA, please visit http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/korus-fta.

The Republic of Korea is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum.  One goal of APEC, as outlined in its 1994 declaration, is to establish a Free Trade Area among its member countries by the year 2020.  Substantive principles of the APEC Forum include investment liberalization, tariff reduction, deregulation, government procurement, and strengthening IPR protection.  Korea was the host country for the APEC Summit in 2005.

Korea has Free Trade Agreements with ASEAN, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, India, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the European Union, and the European Free Trade Association (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein), U.S., Turkey, and Vietnam.  For the complete list of Korea’s FTAs, please visit the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs site (http://www.fta.go.kr/main/situation/kfta/ov/).  More information on the EU-Korea FTA can be found on the European Union website at http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/bilateral-relations/countries/korea/.

The Republic of Korea is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has signed subsidiary agreements including TRIPs (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property) and the Government Procurement Agreement.  Korea has been a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) since December 1996.

 

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.