Canada and 11 Pacific Rim countries signed a comprehensive trade agreement on Oct. 5, making it the world’s largest free-trade accord.
Dubbed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, members of the regional free-trade bloc together represent almost 40 percent of the world’s economy.
The TPP is expected to boost Canada’s foothold in the Asia-Pacific, a region projected to comprise two-thirds of the world’s middle class by 2030, and one-half of global gross domestic product by 2050.
Businesses are looking forward to seizing opportunities in the vast trade bloc expected to open up markets by removing or reducing tariffs and easing non-tariff barriers.
But automakers, cattle and dairy farmers, and drug manufacturers have expressed some concerns over market competition.
Now that the deal has been signed, it needs to be ratified by all 12 countries, which include the United States, Japan, and Australia. China and South Korea are not part of this mega FTA.
The South Korean government, however, has expressed interest in joining the TPP.
Canada and South Korea signed the proposed bilateral free-trade agreement on December 2, with the deal to be ratified and implemented by January 1, 2015.
The landmark agreement, the fruit of negotiations held from July 2005, is Canada's first FTA in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Canadian government projects the deal to expand Canada's economy by C$1.7 billion, while boosting exports to South Korea by 32 percent.
Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects South Korea's economy to expand 0.04 percent over 10 years after implementation.
Seoul expects Korea's automobile industry to be the biggest beneficiary. The industry in 2013 shipped 130,000 vehicles worth about US$2.23 billion to Canada, making it the world's fifth-largest market for Korean automobile manufacturers.
And the biggest winner for Canada?
The agriculture industry, both Seoul and Ottawa project.
Though Korea's dependence on food imports is about 65 percent, the Asian country's agriculture industry expects to face a loss of about US$30.2 million annually in production, and 0.07 percent in annual output.
"The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement strengthens bilateral trade and investment opportunities in many areas including agriculture and agri-food," Angela Bilkhu, the agriculture counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, told AgriVogue. "Once implemented, the Agreement will restore a level playing field and unlock strong growth potential for Canadian agricultural and food products in South Korea," she highlighted.
Canadian agriculture and agri-food industries have been losing out to their U.S. counterparts with the Korea-U.S. FTA having entered into force by more than two years earlier on March 15, 2012.
Both Canada and Korea have been aggressively seeking to expand trade by forging free-trade agreements.
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