Global: Carmakers slam South Korea market barriers

Detroit’s top three carmakers are calling for increased efforts to break down market barriers with South Korea, claiming the current Korea Free Trade agreement has been insufficient in exporting products to the nation.

Ford Motor Co. recently spoke out against the Canada-South Korea free trade agreement as yet another failure of efforts to boost exports.

Ford also slammed similar agreements with the US and EU, arguing that “over the last two years, both the United States and European Union free trade agreements with South Korea have failed to reverse this one-sided automotive trade flow because the South Korean government continues its long history of maintaining a closed market through non-tariff trade barriers and actively intervening in its currency to unfairly subsidize its exports and protect its home market.”

The US trade agreement with South Korea is now two years old. Ford said in a statement that since the agreement was made, the “US trade deficit has worsened by more than 50 percent and the volume of US goods exported to South Korea – not just autos but all exports – has dropped nearly $2 billion.”

The claims were backed by the American Automotive Policy Council, reports say, that agreed South Korea has not opened its market enough to foreign imports. Reports say the groups also claim that “competition policy issues are creating a very difficult business environment for foreign companies operating in Korea.”

Full Content: Detroit News

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