• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.4
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• pp.505-512
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• 2001

This study examined the impacts of tariff reductions on timber products in the new round of WTO negotiations on domestic timber products markets and presented the measures to minimize their impacts. Scenarios on reductions in tariffs were developed based on result of UR negotiation and prospective issues on scope of tariffs bound, base rates for negotiation, degree of tariff cuts, etc. emerged during preparatory meetings held to launch the New Round of WTO Negotiation. Korea Timber Market Model(KORTIMM) developed by Korea Forest Research Institute was used to simulate the impacts on forest products markets by scenario. It was estimated that their impacts on net imports would be much larger than those on both consumption and production. The results showed that their impacts on plywood market and on net imports of processed forest products would be much larger relatively but that their impacts on log market and on consumption and production of processed forest products would be less than 1 percent. It was estimated that log consumption would be reduced due to reduction in domestic production of processed products and thus both production and imports of logs would be reduced as well. In oder to minimize the impacts, efforts should be made to start negotiations to reduce tariffs with bound rates for bounded products and with applied rates for non-bounded products, to expand the implementation period and to maintain the status of developing country. In addition, it might be one of countermeasures to use legitimate measures consistent with WTO rules such as anti-dumping, countervailing measures and safeguards.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.573-600
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• 2009

Currently, the Free Trade Agreement(FTA) promoting regionalism or bilateralism has been increasingly concluded, which is against multilateralism of the WTO. The adoption of the TRS under the FTA carries various issues from the rationale of its existence to its contents. To explain these contradictory issues between the WTO and the FTA, this paper studied on the TRS by analyzing present cases and negotiation results of the TRS under the FTA and comparing them under the WTO. The TRS under the WTO agreement is limited only to antidumping, countervailing duties and safeguard as the agreed concept. When the negotiations of the FTA are on the process, it is necessary to adopt the TRS depending on the negotiating party countries of the FTA after considering fully the economic situations of Korea and the need of protection for the domestic industries. Currently, Korea has entered into the FTA with several countries and most of the agreements with respect to the TRS maintain and observe the right and duty in the WTO agreement and when necessary, in some of the FTA agreements, they have changed parts of the TRS. Consequently, it is needed to establish the basis for application of the TRS. Also, additional application of the SSG provision to some sensitive goods is highly recommended.