The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced that it will establish a separate export support control tower in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump's second administration in the United States. KOTRA also decided to move its North America headquarters, which has been located in New York, to the capital, Washington D.C., for smoother communication with the U.S. government and trade authorities.
KOTRA President Kang Kyung-seong held a press briefing on the 8th (local time) in Las Vegas, where the world's largest IT exhibition, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025, is being held, and noted, "In line with the inauguration of the new U.S. administration, I plan to activate a 'trade export emergency response team' as the team leader," adding, "Upon returning to Korea, I will preside over the first meeting." He also stated, "The emergency response team will serve as a control tower to prepare for changes in the trade environment with the United States."
The key to the trade policy being pushed by Trump's second administration is to raise tariff barriers to protect domestic industries. The president-elect has mentioned multiple times that a universal tariff of 10% to 20% will be imposed on imports.
President Kang remarked that "the trade policy of Trump’s second administration is similar to that of the first, but there are also many differences," and he added, "We can expect various measures, including indirect exports, in terms of the continued announcements regarding tariff barriers or non-tariff barriers." He further conveyed, "To effectively respond to and monitor changes in the trade environment of the United States, we have decided to transfer the North America headquarters from New York to Washington D.C."
President Kang also praised the high participation enthusiasm of domestic corporations in CES 2025. He stated, "This year's CES has recorded its largest scale ever, with over 4,300 corporations from around the world participating, among which South Korea had the third-largest participation with 1,010 corporations after the United States and China," noting, "Considering the economic scale and population, it shows how high the enthusiasm is to verify our corporations' innovation and technology trends."
According to KOTRA, a total of 345 innovation awards were presented at this year's CES, of which domestic corporations received 156, accounting for 45.1%. Among the 34 grand innovation awards presented, domestic corporations took home 15. In the national innovation growth evaluation published by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), South Korea was awarded the 'Innovation Champion Award.' Only six countries, including South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan, received this award.
President Kang stated, "South Korea's innovation capabilities have already been sufficiently confirmed at CES," adding, "We will mobilize all our capabilities at KOTRA to support not just the awards we received, but also to commercialize and export them."