Nothing has come of it, but if it was more than one paragraph then it is not a free-trade agreement—it is a managed-trade agreement.
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/14604/that-u-s-south-korea-free-trade-agreement/
That U.S.-South Korea Free-Trade Agreement
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Kind of a tangent, but I heard a story recently from Korea:
A friend of mine had a friend who was a soldier (South Korean) stationed along the DMZ.
One day, it was the birthday of The Leader, and a North Korean soldier yelled down to the South Korean side, “Hey! You know what?! Today, we got to eat meat!!”
My friend replied, “Hey! You know what?! Every day, we get to eat meat!!”
I actually disagree with libertarians and am actually starting to believe the guys at Cato for their reasoning on free trade. Trade agreements are in no way perfect and also may have some undesirable passages in the agreement, but overall trade is freer after the agreement.
Whether trade is freer or not is entirely dependent on the agreement itself. Before the agreement there is managed trade. After the agreement there is still managed trade. To the extent it’s less managed it will probably be freer, but to the extent the government still believes it legitimately should “protect” industry in some new area it will be less free.
The government has no way to know whether this burden shifting with it’s new agreements is really to a greater benefit. Industries that are more important today may be less important tomorrow.
Another point that I’d like to make is that some certain libertarians should stop mocking and chastising the Cato Institute for supporting these agreements and supporting free trade. That is like akin to having those libertarians mocked on grounds that they support auditing the Fed, which is in reality, just a baby step in order to reign in monetary nationalism and the Fed’s power. I do support auditing the Fed, but I also support these trade agreements.
A free trade agreement would favor Korea at least 10 to one.
Wow, nice made up number there.
When you go to the store and buy a steak for $10 your trade deficit is $10 and the ratio is infinity. Aren’t you doing so terrible after?
The US isn’t having a hard time internationally because of what South Korea is doing. We’re having a hard time competing because of what we are doing. US businesses would mop the floor with South Korean companies if we didn’t have to deal with non-value adding nonsense like OSHA, the EPA, the IRS, the SEC, etc, etc.
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