Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Ku Yun-cheol said on 3rd, "I did my best to secure a 12.5% tariff on automobiles based on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but I regret that we could not achieve it," adding, "The U.S. side seemed to consider 15% as the global bottom line."

Deputy Prime Minister Ku responded similarly regarding the agreement on the '15% automobile tariff' during a phone interview with MBN that day.

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Ku Yun-cheol is answering questions from reporters regarding the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 on the afternoon of the 1st. From the left are Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan, Vice Prime Minister Ku, and Yeo Han-koo, Head of Trade Negotiation Headquarters. /Courtesy of News1

He continued, "Now that we are competing on an equal footing with major competitor countries such as Japan and the European Union (EU), we need to actively work on not only enhancing our corporations' price and quality competitiveness but also diversifying our export regions," and added, "The government will also make thorough efforts to support this.''

Deputy Prime Minister Ku assessed that the shipbuilding industry was a "key negotiating card." He added, "President Donald Trump highly valued South Korea's shipbuilding capacity and requested that the construction of vessels in the U.S. be expedited as quickly as possible."

Regarding semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, he explained, "We have received promises of the same most-favored-nation treatment as other countries," adding, "We will likely be subjected to tariffs at the level of Japan and the EU." Regarding the revenue distribution from $350 billion in U.S. investments, he stated, "I understand it as a concept of reinvestment in the U.S.," and noted, "We will discuss specific operating methods that align with the national interest."

On the issue of rice and beef market opening, he said, "Considering the national sensitivity, we actively defended against additional market opening in this agreement." He also noted that defense-related matters were not mentioned in the recent Korea-U.S. trade negotiations.

In this context, Deputy Prime Minister Ku evaluated that the trade environment with the U.S. has changed significantly compared to the 'Trump first term.' He stated, "If the Korea-U.S. FTA was the foundation of trade between the two countries during the first Trump term, in the second Trump term, tariffs will be actively utilized for improving the trade balance, revitalizing U.S. manufacturing, and creating jobs."

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