The “free trade” agreement that was just signed between the US and South Korea is simply another managed trade agreement. Don’t let the name fool you; read the agreement, as I did. A real free trade agreement would take no more than a paragraph or a page at most.
What is language like this doing in a free trade agreement? “For greater certainty, a Party may: (a) raise a customs duty to the level established in its Schedule to Annex 2-B following a unilateral reduction; or (b) maintain or increase a customs duty as authorized by the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO.”
Or this: “duties on originating goods provided for in the items in staging category H in a Party’s Schedule shall be removed in 15 equal annual stages beginning on the date this Agreement enters into force, and such goods shall be duty-free, effective January 1 of year 15.”
And check out the current 220-page US tariff schedule.
