The United States will lower tariffs on certain items, including forklifts, bulldozers and tractors, to 15% for countries that have reached tariff agreements, including Korea. The government said about $2.3 billion worth of exports to the United States could benefit from the tariff cut under the overhaul.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said on the 2nd that the U.S. government issued a proclamation on the 1st (local time) overhauling the Section 232 tariffs under the Trade Expansion Act on derivatives of steel, aluminum and copper, and that tariffs on forklifts, bulldozers and tractors exported from Korea would be reduced from 25% to 15%.
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act is a provision that authorizes the U.S. president to urgently restrict imports or impose high tariffs if imports of foreign products are deemed to threaten U.S. national security.
Under the proclamation, some mobile industrial machinery such as forklifts, bulldozers and tractors will be reduced to 15% when imported from countries, including Korea, that have concluded tariff agreements with the United States, while the existing 25% tariff will remain in other cases.
Agricultural equipment and HVAC systems that had been subject to a 25% tariff have been changed to a 15% tariff regardless of whether a tariff agreement exists. The tariff cuts will apply from the 8th, based on U.S. local time, through Dec. 31, 2027.
The United States had applied a 10% preferential tariff to items that used at least 95% U.S.-made steel. In the overhaul, the requirement for U.S.-made steel content was eased from 95% to 85%.
Aluminum printing plates and steel racks, which had not originally been subject to Section 232 tariffs, were added in the overhaul and will be subject to a 25% Section 232 tariff.
The government has urged the United States to reduce Section 232 tariffs through high-level consultations between Korea and the United States to support Korean corporations' exports and investments to the United States.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said, "The exports to the United States expected to see tariff cuts through this overhaul are estimated at about $2.3 billion," and added, "To ensure the impact on our corporations is minimized and the balance of benefits under the existing Korea-U.S. tariff agreement is maintained, we plan to continue friendly consultations with the United States while closely watching developments such as the Section 301 investigations under U.S. trade law, tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act, and item-specific tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act."