Canada-Korea Free Trade: A Watershed in Economic Integration with Asia

Abstract

If there is one thing to question about the recently signed free-trade deal between Canada and South Korea, it is this: What took us so long? South Korea is a long-time trading partner with Canada, with a democratic political system and a rapidly expanding free-market economy offering strong protections for commercial rights. The country is an excellent place for Canada to begin a deeper economic integration with the larger Asian market.

The details of the deal itself are certainly worth celebrating. Certainly Canadian consumers will save money on Korean-made products, such as cars. But Canadian companies exporting to South Korea have also, in recent years, found themselves increasingly unable to compete with exporters from the E.U. and U.S., who have already established free-trade deals with Seoul. Since the Americans signed their deal, U.S. exports to South Korea have soared, while the value of Canada’s exports to the same market have dropped by 30 per cent, as Canadians were left facing tariffs as high as 269 per cent.

The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement levels that playing field for Canada, something that will especially benefit firms exporting agricultural products (tariffs on Canadian beef, for example, were a punitive 72 per cent) and professional services. Even automakers may find that whatever increased competition comes from cheaper Korean car imports are offset by the opportunity to more easily sell Canadian-made vehicles in the much-larger Asian marketplace. There is a wealth of economic opportunity waiting in that burgeoning market; this free-trade deal is a pivotal first step for Canada to start fully capitalizing on it.