US, South Korea and Free Trade

US, South Korea and Free Trade

The US government is talking with South Korea over a possible signing on a free trade agreement between the two countries. President George W Bush said in a statement regarding these talks and claimed that the deal would expand America’s engagement in the Asian countries.

If the deal goes through, it would also become the biggest free trade pact involving the US since 1993. US signed on a similar deal (North American Free Trade Agreement) with Canada and Mexico that year. However, the deal with South Korea faces opposition from the South Korean farmers opposed to trade deals.

In addition, some critics of the government policies in the United States are also concerned over the potential losses of jobs in the country. US government is already facing a lot of criticism on the jobs, which are lost to BPO industries working in countries like India and others.

South Korea is already the America’s seventh biggest trading partner and the two countries trade worth around $72.5bn in 2004.