Stimulus for More FTAs and East Asia Free Trade Area Sample Clauses

Stimulus for More FTAs and East Asia Free Trade Area. Setting aside the question of the economic benefits, the conclusion of the U.S.-Korea FTA will be marked as a successful achievement for the recent bilateral arrangements that both countries have pursued. Not only will it further encourage these two countries to continue forging ahead with their bilateral efforts with the other countries, but other countries will also respond more favorably to U.S. and Korea’s bilateral FTA initiatives due to the economic importance of these two countries. As mentioned earlier, Korea is now negotiating FTAs with other major trading countries: after the completion of the U.S.-Korea FTA negotiations, Korea has concluded FTAs with the European Union and India and good progress is being made with respect to FTA negotiations with Canada, Australia, Peru, Colombia and New Zealand. It may also begin FTA negotiations with China in the near future.204 The United States is also conducting negotiations with several countries, although U.S. counterparts are smaller, and FTAs with them seem to have more political, rather than economic, significance.205 At any rate, the spreading of bilateral arrangements for FTAs may distract major trading countries from the multilateral trade negotiations at the WTO, and make the successful conclusion of the stalled Doha Round negotiations more difficult. This may lead to a more fragmented trading system in the long run in the form of a “spaghetti bowl.” 203 Id. at 5-10 (predicting that U.S. agricultural and manufacturing exports to Korea would significantly increase, but predicting fewer gains for the U.S. services industry). 204 See supra notes 21–24 and accompanying text (discussing China and Korea’s economic relationship and the potential for a Sino-Korean FTA).