Policies

Korea - United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement

Last updated: 3 May 2024

The Korea - UK Free Trade Agreement aims to liberalize and facilitate trade in goods, services, and investment between the two signatory states. The Agreement was primarily introduced in order to prevent any new trade barriers emerging following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. As a result, most of the provisions are carried over from the Korea - EU Free Trade Agreement.

The Agreement covers, among others, the elimination of tariffs for the following goods:

  • Electric generation equipment 
  • Mechanical equipment including pumps, appliances, and other advanced machinery
  • Electric motors, transformers, batteries, and capacitors
  • Motor vehicles
  • Mineral ore and processed products including graphite, manganese, copper, aluminum, and nickel
  • Various products manufactured using above minerals and metals such as sheets, powders, bars, and plates
  • Photovoltaic cells


The Agreement also includes rules of origin and local content provisions. Goods are counted as originating from each country if:

  • wholly produced or obtained in the country (applicable to minerals, raw materials, and waste and scrap materials)
  • products have undergone "sufficient working or processing" in the respective Party (applicable to manufactured goods) defined, largely as:
    • undergoing a change in applicable HS code heading as defined for the good in the agreement
    • undergoing a manufacturing process where the the regional value content (RVC) exceeds levels set for the good


The Agreement also carries provisions related to sustainable development and technical barriers; but does not detail specific actions or obligations assigned as a result of these provisions.

Want to know more about this policy ? Learn more (Korean)

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