Dow Congratulates U.S. and Republic of South Korea Governments on Free Trade Agreement

MIDLAND, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) congratulates the governments of the United States and the Republic of South Korea for concluding the remaining issues of the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS).

“These duty savings validate the commercial advantage of business ties between Korea and the U.S. and open up the potential of increased sales based on the market access commitments provided in the agreement.”

“We applaud both governments for their dedicated efforts to remove the remaining impediments to approval of the KORUS agreement,” said Andrew Liveris, Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company. “This significant achievement will allow both countries to move forward on demonstrating the critical benefits of this specific agreement, and the broader commitment to a positive trade liberalization agenda.”

For Dow, the agreement will provide more than $1 million in tariff reductions for the Company’s U.S.-manufactured exports to Korea.

“Importantly, the agreement will also save more than $6.5 million per year in duty reductions for our Korean customers,” said Wan-Je Kim, Dow’s Country Manager in Korea. “These duty savings validate the commercial advantage of business ties between Korea and the U.S. and open up the potential of increased sales based on the market access commitments provided in the agreement.”

Conclusion of the FTA was a key recommendation put forward by the President’s Export Council (PEC), specifically the global competitiveness subcommittee chaired by Andrew Liveris.

The September 2010 PEC letter called for progress on the KORUS agreement, and re-stated the business communities’ commitment to working proactively for a positive Congressional vote on the FTA as soon as possible.

About Dow

Dow combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.