Wine industry praises trade deal with South Korea

California's wine industry praised a new trade pact between the United States and South Korea, saying it would open doors to a promising wine market.

"With Korea's growing interest in wine, the country already has a well-developed distribution system unlike most other emerging markets. This lends itself to great potential for future growth," Linsey Gallagher, international marketing director for the Wine Institute, said in a statement.

The trade agrement, approved late Wednesday by Congress, removes a 15 percent tariff on U.S. wines imported to South Korea and triggers additional reductions in other taxes on wine imports. The deal still requires approval from South Korea's legislature.

The U.S. exported more than 500,000 cases of wine to South Korea last year, 90 percent from California, according to the Wine Institute, a San Francisco-based trade group. Wineries generated $11.2 million in revenues from exports to South Korea.

Through 2004, U.S. wine exports to South Korea were second only to France. But U.S. vintners lost market share following a 2005 free trade agreement between Chile and South Korea. In July, the European Union struck a free trade agreement with Chile.

"Elimination of tariffs will place U.S. wine on a level playing field with Chile and the EU," the Wine Institute said in a statement.

Next week, the Wine Institute will lead its annual trade mission to Seoul. Representatives of 68 California wineries and 100 wine brands are scheduled to attend the two-day session, which includes consumer and trade tastings and a media seminar.

The trade deal — America's biggest free-trade agreement since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico — is expected to increase U.S. exports by $11 billion and support 70,000 jobs, according to the Obama administration.