Improvements to South Korea-U.S. trade deal may not shrink America's deficit

An employee walks on a crane at a container terminal at Incheon port in Incheon, South Korea, May 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A five-year-old U.S.-South Korean trade deal could be improved to increase access for American vehicles and deter currency manipulation, but changes will not necessarily shrink the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian export powerhouse.

The U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement, whose anniversary falls next week, had promised to boost U.S. exports by $10 billion a year but in fact delivered an overall decline of $3 billion by the end of 2016, in part due to a slowdown in global trade.