En lo que se promociona como uno de los acuerdos comerciales más importantes desde el Tratado de Libre Comercio del Atlántico Norte, Estados Unidos y Corea acordaron un acuerdo comercial expansivo que permitirá el intercambio libre de impuestos de productos agrícolas, entre otras cosas.
Corea es una de las economías de más rápido crecimiento en el mundo, y su floreciente clase media está impulsando las tendencias del consumo de alimentos importados, sobre todo de cereales secos.
The agreement provides that feed corn from the US receive immediate duty-free treatment. In addition, Korea’s WTO bound rate for dried distillers grains (DDGS) is currently 6.6 percent. The FTA provides immediate duty-free access for DDGS into the Korean market. Value-added corn products such as pork exports are also anticipated to increase significantly under the agreement. In 2010, South Korea imported 351,389 metric tons of dried distillers grains from the United States. The International Dairy Foods Association also issued a statement embracing the deal.
And the deal is not just a one-way street for the US. Economists predict the deal will bolster Korea’s GDP 0.6% per year for the next decade.