South Korea, China, Japan Hold Further FTA Talks
A sixth round of talks has been arranged on the proposed tripartite free trade agreement (FTA) between China, Japan and South Korea, following the successful conclusion of bilateral trade talks between South Korea and China earlier this month.
The tripartite FTA negotiations were launched in November 2012, and from the outset the challenge of lowering tariffs on sensitive goods and services (particularly agricultural products for South Korea and Japan, and manufactured goods for China) was acknowledged by all three countries.
The sixth negotiating round on the tripartite FTA will now be held in Tokyo, despite the fact that the fifth round of talks in Beijing early in September had made little progress on a range of topics, including the scope of tariff reductions for trade in goods.
However, following the announcement on November 10 that South Korea and China had completed “substantive negotiations” on their proposed FTA, it appears that all three parties still believe that a comprehensive tripartite FTA deal is possible, despite the slow progress to date.
The South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has confirmed that it will try to ensure that the terms of the tripartite FTA are consistent with the decision made by South Korea and China to exclude ultra-sensitive items, including agricultural products such products as rice, pork and beef, from their agreement.
Source: Tax News – South Korea, China, Japan Hold Further FTA Talks
