[THE INVESTOR] Rejecting claims that the bilateral free trade agreement has led to huge trade deficits for the United States with South Korea, a senior Korean official said on Aug. 11 that it has more to do with a rebound in the US economy.

In an attempt to rally support from voters struggling with economic woes, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had slammed FTAs as a source of American economic problems. He has denounced the agreement with South Korea as a “job killing” deal, a “disaster,” and a “perfect” example of “broken promises.”

“The increase in US imports is because the economy has gotten better,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity, emphasizing that it is actually the US, not South Korea, that benefited more from the FTA. “It is not true that US trade deficits with South Korea increased due to” the trade deal, he said.

Trade data have shown that some two-thirds of the increase in South Korea’s exports to the United States over the past four years came from the trade in items that did not enjoy tariff cuts under the free trade agreement that has been in effect since 2012.

According to the data, South Korea’s exports of items benefiting from FTA tariff cuts rose by only $5.4 billion between 2011 and last year while the exports of items ineligible for tariff cuts jumped by nearly $10 billion during the same period.

The US International Trade Commission said in a report in late June that the deal has been good for American interests, saying the FTA is estimated to have improved bilateral merchandise trade balance by $15.8 billion last year.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)