Publication

This report discusses the complex supply chains that now underlie automotive production. The authors explain the procedures established in the KORUS FTA for determining whether an automotive product qualifies as being of South Korean or United States origin and compares those procedures to the rules established in the free trade agreement between South Korea and the European Union. They then discuss whether the domestic content rules in the KORUS FTA could enable circumvention of the rules of origin by allowing automotive components produced in North Korea’s Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) to enter the United States duty-free in assembled motor vehicles, and thereby receive the benefits provided by the agreement.