아세안지역 FTA원산지 규정의 특징과 엄격성 지수에 대한 연구

Abstract

Rules of origin is the key part in FTAs along with tariff concession, but rules of origin and clearance systems that are interwoven complicatedly due to different preferential agreements have made international trade more complex. Too strict rules of origin would cause increases in corporate production costs to satisfy the rules of origin, resulting in inefficiency in production, trade and investment and other negative effects including a decrease in trade creation. Therefore, in order to discuss the effect of FTA rules of origin, it is necessary to analyze restrictiveness of specific rules of origin first. The study investigated the characteristics of rules of origin of FTAs that South Korea concluded with ASEAN nations and the standard types for deciding the country of origin for 15,410 items (HS-CODE 6 unit) defined with product specific rules from each FTA (South Korea-Singapore, South Korea-ASEAN, and South Korea-Vietnam). Additionally, by analyzing the strictness of product-specific rules of FTAs in ASEAN regions, basic directions of bilateral FTA negotiations on Rules of Origin with ASEAN countries including Indonesia and Malaysia can be predicted. Furthermore, the study aims to draw implications for existing FTAs in ASEAN regions. According to the analysis of the study, the average restrictiveness indices of FTA product specific rules in ASEAN regions are as follows: South Korea-Singapore FTA (4.57), South Korea-ASEAN FTA (4.52), and South Korea-Vietnam FTA (4.49). Meanwhile, the average restrictiveness index of the ASEAN regions as a whole was 4.53. As for restrictiveness index by industry, industries with high custom tariffs, low competitiveness and high vulnerability such as commodities products (6.65), processed food (5.32), and clothes and fabrics (5.34) showed high restrictiveness indices, while industries where South Korea has competitiveness in exports including general machines (3.78), electrical machines (3.69), chemical products (4.03), and precision instruments (4.07) had low restrictiveness indices. Through analysis of the weighted average of the restrictiveness index considering the importance of exports and imports (based on costs) by FTA and industry sector, industries where South Korean trade balances against ASEAN nations were increased were identified. Overall, items with low restrictiveness indices showed an increase in trade balance, which led to a lower weighted average of restrictiveness indices compared to a simple average of restrictiveness indices. As for restrictiveness indices only for the top 100 exports by FTA, trade was conducted mainly in industry sectors with low restrictiveness including general machines, electrical machines, precision instruments and chemical products.