Member of Parliament for Provencher, Ted Falk, applauds the Harper Government for signing a landmark free trade deal with South Korea.
“One in five Canadian jobs are dependent of trade,” said MP Falk. “This deal will help Canadian consumers benefit from a greater variety of goods at lower prices.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada and the Republic of Korea have concluded negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement that will significantly boost trade and investment ties between the two countries.
The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, Canada’s first with an Asian market, will create thousands of new jobs in Canada and provide Canadian businesses and workers with a gateway to Asia, enhancing their global competitiveness.
It will also level the playing field for Canadian companies competing with Korea’s other trading partners, including the United States and the European Union, who already have free trade agreements with Korea.
“This announcement is good news for agriculture,” said MP Falk. “In 2012, Canadian grain exports to Korea were $479 million a year. Today, they are less than $100 million. Now, with the free trade announcement, we can look at rebuilding our presence in the Korean market.”
Manitoba stands to benefit significantly from preferred access to the South Korean market. South Korea is already Manitoba’s sixth-largest export destination, with exports from 2010 to 2012 worth an annual average of $143.8 million.
Upon entry into force, the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement will eliminate tariffs on almost all of Manitoba’s key exports and provide access to new opportunities in the South Korean market. Exporters in these sectors will also benefit from other Agreement provisions that will improve conditions for exports – provisions, for example, that ease regulatory barriers, reinforce intellectual property rights and ensure more transparent rules for market access. Overall, Manitoba has a lot to gain from the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement.
