The Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA; less often known as CSKFTA - Canada-South Korea Free Trade Agreement) is a

free trade agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...

between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The agreement was concluded at the Blue House in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

on 11 March 2014 by

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

, the

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

, and

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until Impeachment of Park Geun-hye, she was removed from office in 2017. Park was the first and to date only woman ...

, the

President of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (), is the head of state and head of government of South Korea. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of South Korea, government and is ...

. It is the first free trade agreement between Canada and an Asia Pacific nation. The agreement entered into force on 1 January 2015. In the years since its ratification, Canada has aimed to eliminate 97.8% of its

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

lines for goods

import An importer is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. Import is part of the International Trade which involves buying and receivin ...

ed from South Korea, and South Korea has aimed to eliminate 98.2% of its tariff lines for goods imported from Canada.

Background

The two countries began discussing establishing a free trade agreement in 2005, and held 14 rounds of bargaining sessions before finalizing the agreement. Canada's trade with South Korea had dropped by about after the conclusion of the European Union–South Korea Free Trade Agreement and the Free trade agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Korea. Canada's primary exports to South Korea in 2012 were

non-renewable resource A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuels. The original organic mat ...

s such as mineral fuels and oils (31%) and ores, slag, and ash (8.4%), and

renewable resource A renewable resource (also known as a flow resource) is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of t ...

s such as

wood pulp Pulp is a fibrous Lignocellulosic biomass, lignocellulosic material prepared by chemically, semi-chemically, or mechanically isolating the cellulose fiber, cellulosic fibers of wood, fiber crops, Paper recycling, waste paper, or cotton paper, rag ...

and

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

products (9%). These totalled $3.7 billion in value, a decrease from $5 billion in 2011. South Korea's primary exports to Canada in 2012 were transportation products such as automobiles, trailers, and bicycles (40%), machinery and appliances (17%), and electrical machinery and equipment (15%). These totalled $6.3 billion in value, a decrease from $6.6 billion in 2011.

Tariffs

Canada agreed to eliminate tariffs on imported South Korean automobiles within two years of

ratification Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

of the trade deal. South Korea agreed to eliminate the 40% tariff on imported Canadian beef within 15 years of ratification of the trade deal. The tariff-free regime came into effect on January 1, 2015.

Reaction

Representatives of Canada's automotive industry criticized the deal, stating that it "rapidly eliminates tariffs on Korean imports and does not include retaliatory measures", such as the 'snap-back' provisions in the Free trade agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Korea. Dianne Craig,

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) and president of

Ford Motor Company of Canada Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (Canadian French, French: ''Ford du Canada Limitée'') was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford cars in Canada. It was originally known as the Walkerville Wagon Works a ...

, stated that "South Korea will remain one of the most closed automotive markets in the world under the deal negotiated by the Canadian government" because South Korea imposes non-tariff barriers on imported vehicles. The government stated that automotive disputes between the two countries will be resolved within 177 days. Canada is South Korea's fifth-largest export market for automobiles, where South Korean automakers had 12% market share in 2013. Farmers and ranchers in South Korea have opposed the deal since it was first proposed. The South Korean government's Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy predicts that Korean cattle ranchers and the livestock sector in general will suffer from the increase in Canadian imports.

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA)
at

Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...

Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) - Overview
at Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Fact Sheet: Republic of Korea
at Embassy of Canada in Korea
Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement page
on the Rules of Origin Facilitator, with member countries' status and access to legal documents. {{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-South Korea Free Trade Agreement 2014 in Canada 2014 in South Korea Canada–South Korea relations

Free trade agreements of South Korea Treaties concluded in 2014