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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) on Tuesday voiced support for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement that Canada and the Republic of Korea had concluded negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement that would significantly boost trade and investment ties between the two countries.
The free trade agreement, Canada’s first with an Asian market, was expected to create thousands of new jobs in Canada and provide Canadian businesses and workers with a gateway to Asia, enhancing their global competitiveness. It would also level the playing field for Canadian companies competing with South Korea’s other trading partners, including the US and the European Union, which already have free trade agreements with Korea.
“Our government recognises the importance of opening new markets for Canadian goods, services and investment, which is why we launched the most ambitious trade agenda in Canadian history. The Canada-Korea free trade agreement will create jobs and open the door to the lucrative Asia-Pacific market for Canadian businesses.
“The Canada-Korea free trade agreement not only reflects the input of all sectors of the economy, provinces and territories, it will deliver significant benefits for Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” Harper said.
Canadian consumers would benefit from a greater variety of goods at lower prices, as the agreement would cover virtually all aspects of Canadian-Korean trade, including goods and services, investment, government procurement, environment and labour cooperation, and other areas of economic activity.
The agreement eliminates tariffs and reduces nontariff measures that hinder market access for Canadian exporters and investors in South Korea, bringing transparency and predictability to the business environment. Once the agreement had been fully implemented, South Korea would remove duties on 98.2% of its tariff lines, covering virtually all of Canada’s imports.
South Korea is a key market for Canada – it is the world’s fifteenth-largest economy with a gross domestic product of $1.1-trillion, and the fourth-largest in Asia, with a population of 50-million people.
The country is already Canada’s seventh-largest merchandise trading partner and its third-largest in Asia, after China and Japan. Total merchandise trade between the two countries reached about $10.1-billion in 2012.
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