The United States has classified some home appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines, as steel and aluminum derived products and began imposing item-specific tariffs starting from the 23rd, according to the Customs Service on the 25th. The total number of steel and aluminum derived products subject to the additional tariffs amounts to 304 in total (based on U.S. standards).
Goods that have been recognized as 'made in Korea' under the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may be classified as 'made in a third country' and subject to high tariffs based on 'non-preferential origin criteria.'
The Customs Service has created 'checkpoints for addressing U.S. non-preferential origin determinations' in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Origin Information, in response to the U.S. increasing tariff rates on steel and aluminum derived products and continuously expanding the subject items to which tariffs apply. A Customs Service official noted, 'We have prepared materials to support our companies' origin responses for exporting derivative products to the U.S.'
Steel and aluminum derived products include items that contain steel or aluminum as raw materials, which encompass home appliances, auto parts, sports equipment, furniture, and more.
The determination of whether to impose tariffs is based on the U.S. item numbers (HTS), not Korea's item numbers.
Recently, the U.S. announced its own standards for applying item-specific tariffs and reciprocal tariffs called 'non-preferential origin criteria,' which judges the origin separately from the existing Korea–U.S. FTA origin criteria.
A Customs Service official emphasized, 'When the U.S. government determines origin under the 'non-preferential origin criteria,' it qualitatively judges each case based on changes in product names, characteristics, and purposes without specified criteria. Therefore, businesses exporting to the U.S. need to pay special attention and caution, as high tariffs may be imposed.'