NEW YORK, NY - Financial Services Forum President and COO Rob Nichols issued the following statement on the agreement to fully reopen South Korea's market to U.S. beef exports.

"The agreement to reopen the South Korean market to U.S. beef exports represents important progress towards the approval of the pending U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The U.S.-Korea FTA, the most significant trade agreement of the last 15 years, will give U.S. companies nearly unfettered access to the Korean market, increasing U.S. exports to South Korea by an estimated $10 billion or more annually. For the financial services industry, the agreement is particularly important as it includes the highest standard provisions in the financial services chapter ever negotiated in a US free trade agreement to date.

As the U.S. economy slows, exports are one area of strength. Last year, 40 percent of U.S. economic growth came from exports. Keeping the U.S. open to trade is vital to the U.S. economy.

We applaud the work of U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab to resolve this issue. We urge Congress to approve the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement as well as other pending Free Trade Agreements with Colombia and Panama."