10th Anniversary of the Korea-Turkiye FTA... Trade Volume and Surplus Increased

Martial Arts 'Han-Turkiye FTA 10th Anniversary Effects and Challenges' Report Presentation

After South Korea signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with T?rkiye, trade in goods between the two countries increased by 74.4%, indicating active trade activities. The trade surplus also showed an upward trend. Regarding T?rkiye's demands to revise the FTA due to trade deficits and its implementation of import restrictions, advice was given that institutional measures are necessary.

The Korea International Trade Association's International Trade and Commerce Research Institute released a report titled "The 10th Anniversary Effects and Challenges of the Korea-T?rkiye FTA" on the 2nd, containing these findings.

According to the report, over the 10 years since the FTA took effect, bilateral goods trade grew from $5.22 billion in 2012 to $9.19 billion last year, a 74.4% increase. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, trade between the two countries steadily grew, surpassing $8 billion for the first time in 2021. Last year, it exceeded $9 billion, marking a record high.

South Korea's exports to T?rkiye increased by 69.7%, from $4.55 billion in 2012 before the FTA to $7.72 billion last year. Major export items include synthetic resins, steel plates, petrochemical raw materials, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and automobile parts. T?rkiye's imports increased by 106.7%, from $670 million to $1.39 billion over the same period. Key import items include pharmaceuticals, clothing, and automobile and aircraft parts. T?rkiye's trade surplus showed an increasing trend similar to the growth in trade volume.

Service trade between the two countries slightly decreased from $510 million in 2017 before the FTA to $490 million in 2021 after the FTA took effect, due to the pandemic's impact reducing the scale of service trade. South Korea's direct investment in T?rkiye averaged $220 million annually over five years (2018?2022) after the FTA, a 54% increase compared to 2017.

Alongside the expanding trade atmosphere between the two countries, challenges have also emerged. Domestic companies pointed to T?rkiye's excessive import restrictions, while T?rkiye cited the chronic trade deficit with South Korea as a trade issue. Currently, T?rkiye enforces a total of 15 import restriction measures on Korean products, including 10 anti-dumping measures and 5 safeguard measures. T?rkiye continues to express the need to revise the Korea-T?rkiye FTA due to the trade deficit.

Kang Geum-yoon, a senior researcher at the Korea International Trade Association, stated regarding this, "It is necessary to establish institutional measures that can minimize difficulties for our companies during future FTA revision negotiations concerning T?rkiye's import restrictions applied to protect its domestic industries." She also suggested, "It is important to persuade that South Korea's exports to T?rkiye are the result of a mutually complementary trade structure," and "discussions to expand exchange and cooperation are needed to ensure continuous expansion of trade and investment between the two countries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.