Free Trade With South Korea
October 21, President Barack Obama signed the implementing legislation for the U.S. –Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), phasing out most tariffs between the United States and its seventh-largest trading partner. Tariffs on 95 percent of trade between the two countries were to be eliminated within three years of implementation, with virtually all the remaining tariffs to be removed within 10 years of implementation. The president’s action marked the end of a sometimes contentious process that started on June 30, 2007, when President George W. Bush and Korean President Roh Moo-hyun signed the trade accord. The Bush Administration had decided to…
