The U.S.—Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS)

General Information

The United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement entered into force on March 15, 2012.  On the day of implementation, almost 80 percent of U.S. industrial goods exports to Korea are duty-free including aerospace equipment, agricultural equipment, auto parts, building products, chemicals, consumer goods, electrical equipment, environmental goods, travel goods, paper products, scientific equipment and shipping and transportation equipment. Other benefits of the FTA include:

  • Nearly two-thirds of U.S. agricultural exports products will be duty-free including wheat, corn, soybeans for crushing, whey for feed use, hides and skins, cotton, cherries, pistachios, almonds, orange juice, grape juice and wine.
  • Stronger protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in Korea.
  • Increased access to Korea’s $580 billion services market for highly competitive American companies.

Learn about industry specific business opportunities derived from the U.S.-Korea FTA at Industry Opportunities.  These reports will give sector-specific industry data, export trends, tariff profiles, and comparisons with current competitors in Korea.  They also include examples of export successes.

Visit State Opportunities to learn more about your state’s participation in the market, where you will find an interesting selection of export trends and overviews on export-supported jobs by state.  

If you wish to find tariff information on specific goods, please go to the "FTA Tariff Tool.” This search engine was designed to display tariff rates and how they are eliminated under the FTA.  It also provides mini reports by industry sector or products, indicating how they are treated under recently concluded FTAs.  This tool also produces information on trade and tariff profiles on all U.S. FTAs.

Qualifying for FTA Preferential Treatment

To know whether your product qualifies for the FTA, please go to Rules of Origin.

What You Need to Know Before the Goods Ship

To learn how to determine whether your goods qualify for preferential treatment; what is necessary to claim that preference; the responsibilities of the importer/exporter; and filing a correction and other information, please go to Documenting Origin.

Here are some additional links that will help you get full values from the FTA: