Paper and Paper Products

Trade and Tariffs

This sector is defined by the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round sector agreement on paper.

Paper and paper products accounted for 2.8 percent of average U.S industrial exports to Korea in 2003-2005, totaling $686 million. The top U.S. exports in this sector include printed books, chemical wood pulp, and bleached paper. Korean tariffs range between zero and 7 percent, with an average of 0.2 percent.

Korean exports to the United States in this sector averaged $501 million in 2003-2005, or 1.3 percent of total Korean industrial exports to the United States. Top Korean exports in this sector include graphic paper and paperboard, printed books, and newsprint. The United States is a signatory of the Uruguay Round sector agreement on paper and paper products, and as a result imposes zero duties on these products on an MFN basis.

Tariff Elimination

For paper and paper products, 100 percent of U.S. exports will receive duty-free treatment immediately upon implementation of the Agreement, including high-priority U.S. products such as kraftpaper, glossy paper, and boxes and cartons.

Since the United States maintains zero tariffs for all paper and paper products, all U.S. imports from Korea will continue to receive duty-free treatment following implementation of the Agreement.

International Trade Administration
Manufacturing and Services
Office of Trade Policy Analysis

Revised June 2007