The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said on the 3rd that 1.203 trillion won was finally reflected in next year's budget for trade and export response. The amount is up 183.2 billion won (18.0%) from this year, but it was cut by 530 billion won compared with the government's original proposal submitted to the National Assembly in September.
The cut came as plans to significantly expand grants to the trade insurance fund to support risk guarantees for corporations entering the United States were revised. The original proposal included increasing grants to the trade insurance fund from 80 billion won this year to 600.5 billion won next year, but during parliamentary review, 570 billion won of the related budget was converted into funding for a new fund to be created under the Special Act on Investment in the United States, leading to an adjustment.
However, as the balance of the refund guarantee (RG) for advance payments for small and mid-sized shipyards was increased by 40 billion won from 30.5 billion won, grants to the trade insurance fund were finalized at 70.5 billion won. RG refers to a system in which a credible financial institution agrees to refund the shipowner's advance payment in place of the shipyard if the shipyard encounters problems.
Most of the remaining key items were reflected close to the original plan. The budget for the export support infrastructure utilization program was significantly expanded to 181.1 billion won from 91.4 billion won this year, and a new 42.4 billion won emergency support voucher budget was included. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) budget increased from 329.3 billion won to 341.4 billion won. A new program to help distribution corporations expand overseas, "support for distribution corporations' overseas expansion," was also established, with 49.2 billion won reflected.
A new 2.9 billion won budget for interest subsidy support was also included for sectors such as steel, aluminum, and copper, which face heavier burdens from high U.S. tariff rates. MOTI said it plans to partially support financing costs for sectors whose procurement expenses have expanded due to higher interest rates and increased tariff burdens.
Meanwhile, MOTI's total budget for next year was finalized at 9.4342 trillion won, up 1.4912 trillion won (18.8%) from this year.