Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and Yeo Han-koo, head of the Office of the Minister for Trade, visited the United States and discussed key trade issues, including tariff matters and a petition seeking a Trade Act Section 301 investigation related to Coupang.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said on the 7th that Minister Kim and Deputy Minister Yeo met separately on the 6th (local time) in the United States with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer to discuss trade issues.
MOTI explained that the visit was promoted to review the implementation of the Korea-U.S. tariff agreement after the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the reciprocal tariff imposed by the Donald Trump administration based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was unlawful.
In his meeting with Secretary Lutnick, Minister Kim explained the status of Korea's implementation of the tariff agreement, including the National Assembly's discussions on enacting a special law on investment in the United States. He also emphasized that, even under the new tariff policy being pursued by the U.S. government following the IEEPA ruling, the existing Korea-U.S. tariff agreement must be effectively guaranteed.
Currently, following the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration has said it will raise the newly imposed "global tariff" under Section 122 of the Trade Act from the existing 10% to 15% and proceed with investigations to impose additional tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act and Section 301 of the Trade Act.
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act is a law that allows the United States to impose tariffs or import restrictions on certain imports for reasons of national security, and Section 301 of the Trade Act is a law that allows the United States to impose sanctions in response to other countries' unfair trade practices.
On the same day, Deputy Minister Yeo also met with Representative Greer on a closed-door schedule to exchange views on trade issues. The two sides discussed implementation plans for the non-tariff areas under the "joint fact sheet" released by the Korea-U.S. leaders and agreed to convene the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Joint Committee at an appropriate time to finalize the implementation plans.
In particular, Deputy Minister Yeo conveyed the Korean government's position that the issue raised by U.S. investment firms over the Korean government's measures against Coupang should not negatively affect Korea-U.S. trade relations.
Earlier, Coupang's U.S. investment firms asked the Trump administration to investigate whether Section 301 of the Trade Act was violated, claiming the Korean government took "unfair and discriminatory measures" against Coupang. Under current law, the U.S. Trade Representative must decide and notify by the 7th, within 45 days of the petition by Coupang's investors, whether to initiate an investigation.
MOTI said, "We will continue friendly consultations with the U.S. side on major trade issues to maintain a stable trade environment with the United States and strive to minimize the uncertainties faced by our corporations."