The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Business Coalition, which includes the National Chicken Council in its membership, said it was encouraged by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s agreement on a pathway forward for consideration of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, along with the Colombia and Panama trade agreements and Trade Adjustment Assistance. The Coalition is urging Congress to move expeditiously to approve the agreements following the August Congressional recess. “The opportunities KORUS (the U.S.-Korea FTA) offers to support hundreds of thousands of high quality American jobs are too important for us to delay action any longer. It is important that Congress move as quickly as possible, following the August recess, to approve these agreements,” the Coalition stated.
The U.S. International Trade Commission has estimated that the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. manufactured and agricultural goods under the U.S.-Korea trade agreement would increase U.S. exports to Korea by $10 billion to $11 billion. The agreement has the potential to create as many as 280,000 jobs, according to an updated assessment of the agreement prepared by U.S. International Trade Commission economic staff at the request of the Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee on Trade.
