South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump have finally signed the revamped free trade agreement chartered by both countries on Monday, with the POTUS hailing the deal as one of the historic milestones in global trade.
According to CNBC, Trump and his SoKor counterpart, Moon, did the signing of the renegotiated free-trade deal on a ceremony held on the sidelines during the United Nations General Assembly on Monday in New York.
The US-SoKor pact would be the first major trade deal that Trump has finalized since he entered the Oval Office way back 2016.
In a statement given to the media present during the annual UN gathering, Trump praised the agreement and considered it as one of the major accomplishments of his administration. He further said that the pact has the potential to make a significant impact in the reduction of trade deficit suffered by the two countries.
Moreover, Trump said that this should create new opportunities for American industries to export goods to South Korea, thereby establishing a healthy market outlet in this region of Asia.
Pharmaceutical products, agricultural goods, and even US-made automobiles will likely to thrive in Korean markets, Trump added.
On his part, Moon echoed Trump's statement while reiterating that industries from both nations should be able to conduct business in a more stable and fair condition.
The South Korean head of state went on to express his high hopes for the revamped trade article to help establish and further solidify the relations between Washington and Seoul in other areas aside from economic and trade.
Revisions Being Done
Last week, the US president announced to the press that both parties had already made the revisions on the initially proposed agreement.
According to this earlier report, the official document has undergone revisions following a series of renegotiation process from the US and South Korea. Trump also said then that it will be signed during the UN gathering.
The previous version of the deal allowed the US to increase its exportation to South Korea. Meanwhile, there were extended tariffs put on pickups made in South Korea as well as the capping of importation on Korean steel.
As what Trump said then, the old agreement was unfair for both sides.
The new version, on the other hand, comes with a host of new features including the expansion of eco-credits for the Asian nation, the elimination of duties for South Korean trucks up to the year 2041, and the increase of the export volume of US cars, just to mention a few.
