FTAs boosted auto exports

Korea’s free trade deals with the European Union and other nations have bolstered its auto exports to related regions since the pacts took effect, government officials said yesterday.

The value of shipments of cars to the EU reached $1.84 billion in the July-October period, up 91 percent from a year earlier, according to a report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. A free trade pact between Korea and the EU took effect on July 1.

According to the finance ministry, similar deals with other nations like Chile and Peru have greatly increased exports of cars and auto parts by Asia’s fourth-largest economy, aided by eliminations of tariffs on cars.

Car exports to Chile soared 665 percent this year compared with 2003, one year before a bilateral free trade pact took effect. Shipments of auto parts to the South American country jumped 129 percent.

Meanwhile, Korea saw its exports of automobiles to Peru rise 31 percent on-month in August when their free trade agreement deal went into effect.

The finance ministry estimated that the value of the country’s auto exports to the U.S. may reach an annual average of $722 million for the first 15 years after the FTA takes effect.