Ambassador Han Duk-soo of South Korea toured Port of Tacoma customer facilities today to talk about the Korean Free Trade Agreement.



If approved by Congress, the Korean agreement would be the first U.S. free trade agreement with a major Asian economy and the largest trade deal since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Last year, the port tallied $2.5 billion in trade with South Korea, the United States' third largest international trading partner, behind China and Japan. 

Korea is the fifth largest export market for U.S. farm products.

The United States is the top supplier to Korea of many farm products including almonds, fresh cherries, soybeans, corn and wheat.



The U.S. International Trade Commission estimates that the trade agreement's reduction of Korean tariffs and tariff-rate quotas on goods would add $10 billion to $12 billion to annual U.S. Gross Domestic Product and about $10 billion to annual merchandise exports to Korea.

The ambassador's visit was organized by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.