U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement

The United States and the Republic of Korea signed the U.S.-Korea FTA on June 30, 2007. The agreement is the United States' largest trade deal since NAFTA in 1994. The agreement is awaiting approval by the U.S. Congress and Korean National Assembly.

Next Steps for the U.S.-Korea FTA
U.S. International Trade Commission Report
The USITC released its report on the likely impacts of the U.S.-Korea FTA on the U.S. economy on Sepetember 20, 2007. The report can be found here.

The Trade Act of 2002 requires the U.S. International Trade Commission to prepare a report on the likely impact of the U.S.-Korea FTA agreement on the U.S. economy as a whole, on specific industry sectors, and on the interests of U.S. consumers. The act requires that this report be delivered to the administration and to Congress no more than 90 days after the actual signing of the agreement.

U.S. Congressional Consideration
After the USITC report is submitted, the U.S.-Korea FTA must be approved by the U.S. Congress to enter into effect. The following is the process for bringing the FTA before both houses of Congress:

• A list of required changes in law must be submitted to Congress sixty days after the agreement is signed.
• Mock markups on the FTA implementing legislation have no time schedule.
  Implementing bill introduced in the House and the Senate and sent to House Ways and Means committee and Senate Finance committee (no deadline for introduction).
• The House Ways and Means Committee must report the bill within 45 days of the introduction of implementing legislation, or the bill is automatically discharged.
• The full House must vote on the bill within 15 days of the Ways and Means report of the bill.
• The Senate Finance Committee must report the bill within 15 days of the full House vote.
• The full Senate has 15 days to vote on the bill after the Senate Finance committee reports the bill.

* The maximum number of days in session the implementing bill is allowed is 90. The Senate and House may work on the bill concurrently to expedite the above process.

Korean National Assembly Consideration
The Korean government submitted the U.S.-Korea FTA to Korea's National Assembly for consideration and approval on September 7. The agreement will need more than half of the 299 members of the National Assembly to pass. There is no time limit for the National Assembly to approve the legislation. 

The U.S.-Korea FTA Business Coalition
The U.S.-Korea FTA Business Coalition is a broad-based group of U.S. companies, industry organizations, and trade associations working to secure the approval of the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement (FTA) by the U.S. Congress. The U.S.-Korea Business Council serves as the Coalition's secretariat.

Please visit the Coalition website (http://www.uskoreafta.org/) for fact sheets, policy papers, news articles and other information on the agreement.