Vietnam is now the third largest market of the ROK, said the Korea International Trade Association on August 25 in announcing the trade statistics. China is the top trading partner followed by the US.
The top imports for the seven-month period consisted primarily of manufacturing raw materials and intermediary goods.
Implementation of the Vietnam-ROK free trade agreement on December 20, 2015 immediately removed import duties on many commercial goods, helping to keep Vietnam on a level playing field with the ROKs other foreign trading partners.
The balance of import tariffs are scheduled to phase out over a fifteen-year period.
