Korea-US FTA boosts bilateral trade

Bilateral trade between South Korea and the United States jumped nearly 12 percent from a year earlier last year, partly demonstrating the intended effect of a free trade agreement (FTA) enacted three years ago, the Seoul government said Thursday.
In 2014, total trade volume between the two countries came to US$115.6 billion, up 11.6 percent from $103.6 billion in 2013, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
South Korea's exports to the United States spiked 13.3 percent on-year to $70.3 billion in 2014, accounting for 12.3 percent of the country's overall exports in that year.
The rise in shipments to the United States also contributed to a 2.3 percent gain in the country's overall outbound shipments in 2014, according to South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap).
"The Korea-U.S. FTA is a high-level FTA, which helped secure a strong foothold for the country's exports to the world's largest market," the ministry said in a press release.
The bilateral free trade pact is proving to be equally beneficial to the United States, according to the ministry.
Imports from the United States surged 9.1 percent on-year to $45.3 billion in 2014, compared with a 1.9 percent increase in South Korea's overall imports last year, the ministry said.