Strasbourg, 01/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU has recorded its first trade surplus in 15 years with South Korea. The deficit in the automobile sector is diminishing.
Published for the second anniversary of the entry into force - on 1 July 2011 - of the free-trade agreement between the EU and South Korea, the latest statistics on the development of bilateral trade are promising - even if the European Commission notes that the full impact of the agreement will only be seen when all customs duties have been removed. In two years, EU exports to South Korea have strongly increased, giving the EU its first trade surplus in relation to its Asian partner - a surplus recorded in the first quarter of 2013.
European exports to South Korea grew by 16.2% between 2011 and 2012, rising from €32.5 billion to €37.8 billion, whilst at the same time its imports from South Korea increased less, from €36.2 billion to €37.9 billion - in other words a rise of 4.7%. The products that most contributed to this rise on the European side are North Sea oil, machines and vehicles, and automobile parts.
On the sensitive issue of the automobile sector, the results given after a year's implementation put the catastrophe feared by the European industry into perspective a little - not only did European exports of cars to South Korea rise by 27.7% between 2011 and 2012, but at the same time, imports into the EU of South Korean cars rose less, from €3.4 billion to €3.9 billion (in other words, an increase of 14.9%, corresponding to a rise from 383,000 to 402,000 cars). As a result, the trade balance in the EU in this sector - although still negative - has improved. (EH/transl.fl)