The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development stated that this agreement is Canada's first free trade agreement with an Asian country and is expected to boost Canadian exports by 32%, adding 1.7 billion Canadian dollars to the country's GDP. Similarly, Canadian enterprises have also gained the opportunity to compete fairly with countries such as the United States and the European Union, which have already signed free trade agreements with South Korea.
Under this free trade agreement, South Korea will immediately grant duty-free treatment to 81.9% of products in Canada's tariff schedule, 90.2% of non-agricultural products, and 99.8% of textile, footwear, and apparel products.
Of greater interest to Canadian exporters is that leather apparel and tanned furs or furs directly used for garment manufacturing will receive immediate duty-free treatment.
Meanwhile, Canada will immediately grant duty-free treatment to 81.5% of South Korea's non-agricultural products; however, only 5.7% of apparel products will enjoy immediate duty-free status, though this figure will rise to 100% over the next three years.
For footwear products, 34.8% of items in the tariff schedule will receive duty-free treatment, and the Canadian government will gradually phase out tariffs on other products in the tariff schedule over the next 5 to 11 years.
