Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the U.S. International Trade Commission’s study: “U.S.- Korea Free Trade Agreement: Passenger Vehicle Sector Update.”  Chairman Camp requested the study on January 27, 2011.

The report, for the first time, quantifies the value to U.S. auto producers from the removal of non-tariff barriers as a result of the supplemental autos agreement to the pending U.S.-South Korea trade agreement signed last December.  Non-tariff barriers, such as South Korea’s traditionally opaque regulatory process and its discriminatory standards and taxes, have severely hampered U.S. access to this important market.  The ITC estimates that removal of non-tariff barriers alone will result in an increase of U.S. exports of $48-66 million – an increase of 41-56%.  This increase is in addition to the increased exports that will result from the phase-out of South Korean tariffs on U.S.-made autos.  The ITC concludes that “U.S. exports of passenger vehicles to the Republic of Korea (Korea) would likely increase significantly as a result of modifications to provisions in the 2007 FTA agreed to in the accompanying agreement.”

In releasing the report, Chairman Camp said: “This report shows how effective our trade agreements can be in removing both tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. exports.  As our economy struggles to recover, we must aggressively increase exports to create more American jobs.  All three of our pending agreements have been closely studied over the last several years, they are ready for consideration.  If we fail to act on all three before July 1, we will risk losing critical market share in those countries and falling further behind our foreign competitors.”

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