South Korean trade pact with India going into effect

Dec 31, 2009, 10:34 GMT

Seoul - An India-South Korea trade agreement going into effect Friday would immediately eliminate tariffs on 7,044 goods traded between Asia's third- and fourth-largest economies.

South Korea and India signed their comprehensive economic partnership agreement in August after three years of negotiations as Seoul seeks to ink trade deals with the world's largest economies.

The agreement - which is similar to a free trade agreement and covers trade in goods and services and investments along with chapters on competition and intellectual property rights - also includes phased eliminations of other tariffs, most notably in the car industry.

Under the pact, India is to eliminate or phase out duties on 71.5 per cent of South Korean products over the next eight years while South Korea will do the same for 88.6 per cent of Indian imports over the same period.

Taking effect immediately, however, is India's elimination of duties on 220 South Korean goods - including mobile phones, computers, batteries and cow skins. Their shipment value was expected to reach about 1.53 billion dollars a year.

South Korea on Friday is removing tariffs on 6,824 Indian products - such as naphtha, oil cake, polycarbonate and hematite - whose shipment value was forecast to reach about 1.24 billion dollars a year.

Indian manufacturers of South Korean cars, such as Hyundai Motor India and GM Daewoo Auto and Technology, are to also pay less duty on their auto parts imported from South Korea under the agreement, which allows a phased removal of the 12-per-cent tariff over eight years.

In the meantime, South Korea has negotiated trade agreements with the United States and the European Union, which are awaiting ratification.

As for India, it has only signed one other trade pact - with Singapore. Japan and China are also seeking to sign trade deals with the quickly developing economy but without making tangible progress.

For South Korea, its agreement with India is its first with the BRIC group of fast-developing countries, which is made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

For India, it is its first deal with a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 30 developed countries.