The two countries signed an FTA June 30 that will help increase South Korea exports to the United States in a variety of industries such as textiles and will thus affect Changhua County's textile industry, said Cho.
The county has 975 registered textile firms and is a stronghold of Taiwan's textile business.
The county's textile industry had been in decline for the past decade because of competition from China's low-priced products, Cho said, adding that the industry has seen some improvement in export orders since the United States set limitations on import quotas for Chinese textile products this year.
However, he added, the impact of the FTA between the United States and South Korea might become evident from the end of this year, with more and more orders being transferred to South Korea.
Cho said the county government has the obligation to give advice and warnings in this regard to local textile firms, and that the Changhua County Industrial Development and Investment Promotion Committee and the county government's Department of Economic Development have started gathering information for reference by local business people.
Department chief Huang Cho-chung said the two units have consulted the Taiwan Textile Federation for useful information and are making an evaluation on the possible impact of the U.S.-Korea FTA. They will also have meetings with textile firm owners to provide counseling and listen to their opinions, in an effort to propose measures to reduce the impact of the agreement.
