Us-korea Free Trade Agreement

America is a nation with a long history of free trade. After the end of the Second World War, the U.S. conducted the multi-lateral policy on foreign trade, and the decision-makers did not seriously consider the bilateral or regional free trade agreements. In the late 1980s, the U.S. and Canada signed a historical free trade agreement, which marked the shift of America's trade policy from multilateral policy to multi-track policy. Under this background, the U.S. FTA policy came into being. America's FTA strategy has multiply goals, namely promoting global free trade talks, establishing precedents for future trade negotiations, expanding exports, deepening alliance with allies and spreading democracy worldwide. Up to now, the U.S. has more than 20 FTAs with economies in the world.Based on the consideration of national strategy, the U.S. signed the FTA with South Korea. The Korea-U.S. FTA will strengthen the U.S-South Korea alliance and will also dissolve the frictions between the two allies. The U.S.-South Korea economic relations, no doubt, will be promoted in the coming years. Besides, facing the rising influence of China in East Asia, the KORUS FTA is a response by the U.S. government to the new challenge.Although the U.S. government signed the strategically significant FTA with South Korea, the KORUS FTA has not been ratified by the U.S. congress due to the internal politics. Specifically, the emerging of new protectionism, the opposition by the U.S. trade unions, the political differences between the Democratic Party and the Republic Party all contributed to the standoff of the trade pact. We need more time to see whether and when the Congress will ratify the agreement.