A pending trade agreement between the United States and South Korea could increase jobs and profits for exporting industries in the state, business leaders said at a forum Friday.

The meeting, organized by co-hosted by the Bellevue Office of Economic Development and the World Trade Council, saw representatives of Bellevue, Boeing and the Port of Seattle testify to the importance of passing the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which was originally agreed upon in 2007.

If approved, the deal would eliminate tariffs on most industrial and consumer goods imported from and exported to South Korea within five years. South Korea was Washington’s fourth-largest export market, with sales of nearly $1.9 billion from diverse products including airplanes, software, architecture, cherries, potatoes and wine.

The discussion was led by U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Trade Secretary William Craft, who spoke highly of the agreement.

Craft assured the audience that the Korea agreement, along with two other pending deals with Panama and Columbia, would be a job creator, not a job killer, with the Obama Administration saying the agreements would lead to an additional 70,000 jobs. However, the Economic Policy Institute predicts a loss of 159,000 jobs over seven years and an increase in trade deficits.

Craft said the agreements are seen as a key to competing with European markets. Since the European Union signed a deal with South Korea at the start of the summer, trade between the two has increased 17 percent with many tariffs on goods plummeting near zero.

“I’m very, very confident that not a job will be lost in the U.S. as a result of any of these (free trade agreements),” Craft said. “I can tell you, if we don’t pass these (free trade agreements), jobs will be lost in the apple industry, in the transportation industry as Canada and Europeans eat our lunch in what had been traditional American markets.”

Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani said Asian trade makes up 90 percent of the value of items through the port. Korea represents the fourth-most frequent user of the port.

Officials said the deal would help exports of wood, machine parts such as automobile and airplanes, and wood. The most-likely products to come is would be knitted material and textiles.

“The bottom line is we expect more cargo in and out, and that leads to more jobs,” Yoshitani said.