In today's rapidly globalizing world, the topic of free trade has emerged as one of the most controversial issues up for debt. While economic theory precedes that freer trade will inevitably make everyone in society better off, trends in recent decades have shown that the removal of trade barriers not only creates big winners, but also makes many people across the world worse off. In the United States, the struggle between the winners and losers in the globalization game has most recently manifested itself in the debt over the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). While it was concluded on April 1, 2007, recent administrations have not submitted the KORUS FTA for congressional review. We will now explore the KORUS FTA and its supposed impact on American exports in order to explain this administrative refusal to submit the agreement to Congress.

The KORUS FTA is the most economically significant bilateral free trade agreement that the United States has concluded since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The KORUS FTA will open South Korea – a country that represents America's seventh-largest trading partner , $ 82 billion in bilateral trade in 2007, and a growing market of 49 million consumers – to the majority of American goods and services. According to the restrictions of the KORUS FTA, Korea and the US will be permitted three years to eliminate tariffs on over 90% of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products and almost 2/3 of American agricultural exports to Korea will become duty-free immediately . Furthermore, the agreement will address a multitude of non-tariff barriers and increase transparency in the South Korean regulatory process. According to an estimate by the US International Trade Commission, opening the Korean goods market alone will add $ 10-12 billion to annual US GDP and will lead to an increase in better-paying jobs for American workers (export.com).

Given the potential economic benefits of the KORUS FTA, presidential wariness of seeking congressional approval seems unfounded. However, the agreement does not have unwavering support in the American Congress because of a number of powerful interest groups who oppose the FTA. Most significantly, the American automobile and beef industries along with influential US labor unions staunchly oppose the agreement. US automakers argue that while the American market will open to Korean vehicles, South Korean regulations discriminate against imports of US autos. US automakers sold fewer than 7,000 vehicles in South Korea in 2008, a figure that represents less than 1% of the available market. In comparison, South Korean carmakers sold more than 53,000 vehicles in the US in October 2009 alone. According to the AFL-CIO, more than three quarters of the $ 13.4 billion US trade deficit with South Korea is in autos. This discrepancy has caused figures such as the US Trade Representative Ron Kirk to urge South Korea to "level the playing field" by eliminating tariffs on US automobiles before the agreement will be considered (Bloomberg). American beef exporters, who face rarely damaging tariffs while entering the Korean market, share the grievances of American automakers and US labor unions fear that opening US markets without Korean reciprocation will lead to large job losses in these two industries.

Despite opposition by these powerful groups, many republicans along with certain democrats in Congress are urging the president to resolve existing concerns and quickly approve the KORUS FTA. These men and their supporters insist that the agreement will create thousands of well-paying jobs for Americans and will open the majority of US exporters to a substantial new market (Reuters). They argue that the opportunity presented to US exporters is too great to be ignored and, more recently, that time may be running out. In October 2009, South Korea signed a free-trade pact with the European Union that awaits ratification and the Korean government is currently engaging in negotiations of another free trade agreement with Japan and China. Companies such as Citigroup Inc. and ACE Ltd. fear that the recently signed EU-Korea trade accord may give their competitors the advantage in cracking Korean markets (Bloomberg).

Although riddled with the imperfections inherent to free trade agreements, the KORUS FTA represents an important opportunity for American exporters. Furthermore, the KORUS FTA is seen as an important way to strengthen American ties to the Asian market, counterbalance South Korea's growing trade ties with China, and possibly even restore the American position as Korea's preeminent trade partner. Finally, the agreement will not only boost economic ties between the two nations, but is also strategically important for the US in shaping future Asian policies. Failure could mean a devastating blow to a key American alliance in an incrementally important region. (The Heritage Foundation). If President Obama is able to garner the political capital necessary to push the KORUS FTA through Congress, it has the potential to send American exports to new heights. However, doing so will require strength, persistence, and much compromise.