U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economy-wide ... - USITC

to offset some of these transport costs. As a result, U.S. exports of fresh strawberries are
expected to increase. 116
In general, Korea’s noncitrus fruit exports are limited and U.S. imports from Korea have
been negligible, as Korea’s position as a net importer of agricultural products has become
more pronounced. Imports of noncitrus fruits from Korea generally have very little impact
on the domestic industry and Korea is considered to have limited potential to expand its
already small fruit exports to the United States. 117 The Commission’s economy-wide analysis
of the long-term effects of tariff and TRQ liberalization indicate U.S. imports of vegetables,
fruits, and nuts (of which the products included here represent a large component) could
increase by $2–4 million (4–10 percent). 118 Although Korea exports a large quantity of fresh
pears to the United States, which would benefit from the immediately elimination of the
0.3 cents per kilogram tariff, the majority of pear imports from Korea are of the Asian
variety, which compete only to a limited extent with domestic production. Consequently,
Korean exports of Asian-variety pears may gain a slight advantage in their market niche as
a result of the tariff elimination at the expense of other U.S. import sources, primarily
China. 119
Views of Interested Parties
The report of the ATAC on Trade in Fruits and Vegetables stated that members were pleased
with the agreement and, on the whole, see it as a positive agreement for the fresh fruit
industry. The report notes that many of the tariff concessions were difficult to obtain and
states that it will result in benefits for many fruit producers. The report expressed concern
with Korea’s past record of using SPS measures to protect its domestic producers and
recommended that negotiators continue to identify and resolve existing and future SPS
conflicts. 120
Despite concerns regarding the lack of explicit resolutions for various SPS issues, several
industry associations expressed support for the FTA. 121 The associations stated that they see
the SPS agreement as a framework that may provide an avenue to resolve SPS issues in the
future. They added that the potential to resolve these SPS issues, along with the accelerated
tariff elimination schedules, will provide for further access into the Korean market for U.S.
exports of noncitrus fruit.
116 U.S. industry officials, interviews by Commission staff, June 11, 2007.
117 Lee and Sumner, “The Prospective Free Trade Agreement with Korea,” January 2007, 1.
118 Impact relative to an estimated 2008 base. See chap. 2 of this report for additional information
regarding the economy-wide analysis.
119 U.S. industry officials, interviews by Commission staff, June 6, 2007.
120 ATAC on Trade in Fruits and Vegetables, Advisory Committee Report, April 2007.
121 Industry representatives (from the Washington Apple Commission, the Northwest Horticulture
Council, the California Cherry Advisory Board, the Northwest Pear Bureau, California Table Grape
Commission, the California Raisin Marketing Board, the California Strawberry Commission, and the
California Tree Fruit Agreement) interviews by Commission staff, June 2007.
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