The tariff preferences in FTAs do not apply automatically to all imports. Instead, importers can request to use the tariff preferences, but must then show that the imported goods fulfil the formal requirements (e.g. rules of origin) of the FTA. This is costly, which is a likely reason why tariff preferences are not always used. This research note examines preference utilization under the FTA between the EU and South Korea, which was formally ratified in 2015 (but had been provisionally applied from 2011). We use firm and transaction level data for Swedish imports from South Korea during November 2016 to answer the question ‘Who uses the EU's FTAs?’ With information on firm size, product category, import mode (direct imports or customs warehousing), preference margin, potential duty savings, and transaction size, we provide a detailed picture of when firms choose to utilize the tariff preferences. The results suggest that the differences across importers are not primarily related to firm size, as is sometimes suggested in extant literature. We also find that it is the size of the import transaction rather than the size of the preference margin that determines preference utilization.

中文翻译：

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谁使用欧盟的自由贸易协定？欧盟-韩国自由贸易协定的交易层面分析

自由贸易协定中的关税优惠并不自动适用于所有进口。相反，进口商可以要求使用关税优惠，但必须证明进口货物符合自由贸易协定的形式要求（例如原产地规则）。这是昂贵的，这可能是为什么不总是使用关税优惠的一个原因。本研究报告考察了欧盟与韩国之间自由贸易协定下的优惠利用情况，该协定于 2015 年正式批准（但从 2011 年起暂时适用）。我们使用 2016 年 11 月瑞典从韩国进口的公司和交易水平数据来回答“谁使用欧盟的 FTA？”这个问题。了解公司规模、产品类别、进口方式（直接进口或海关仓储）、优惠幅度、潜在关税节省和交易规模等信息，我们提供了公司何时选择利用关税优惠的详细情况。结果表明，进口商之间的差异主要与公司规模无关，正如现有文献中有时所暗示的那样。我们还发现，决定优惠利用率的是进口交易的规模，而不是优惠幅度的大小。