Reforms of Korea's Trade Adjustment Assistance Program for Its Bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the European Union and the United States

Abstract

The Korean government introduced the trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program to facilitate structural adjustment under the implementation of its free trade agreements (FTAs). One big problem with the TAA program is that its criterion for eligibility for TAA support requires a 25 percent decrease in sales volume, and this does not reflect firms' business realities. The TAA program should be reformed to reflect that the TAA is a quid pro quo for the implementation of FTAs with large economies such as the United States and the EU.