DETROIT -- The UAW is pleased with congressional approval of the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).  The automotive provisions of the agreement were substantially renegotiated by the Obama administration to address the concerns the union had with the original FTA, negotiated in 2007 by the Bush administration. 

“The revised agreement,” said UAW President Bob King, “creates significantly greater market access for American auto exports and contains strong, auto-specific safeguards to protect our domestic markets from potentially harmful surges of Korean automotive imports.”

Under the provisions of the renegotiated agreement, the 2.5 percent U.S. tariff on automobiles will stay in place until the fifth year after implementation of the agreement, and the 25 percent tariff on light trucks remains until the eighth year, when it starts to be phased down.  Moreover, Korea will immediately reduce its electric car tariffs from 8 percent to 4 per cent, and will phase out the tariff by the fifth year of the agreement.   

The KORUS FTA also includes standards for the protection of worker rights, including obligations for South Korea to respect core International Labor Organization labor rights and to effectively enforce labor laws designed to ensure a level playing field for American workers to compete.  

“One of the reasons we felt comfortable supporting the KORUS FTA is that South Korea has a strong and vibrant trade union movement, particularly in the automotive sector,” said King.  “We believe the revised KORUS FTA will improve our economic relationship with South Korea and provide UAW members with the opportunity to make products for export to Asia.”