Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said on the 20th that a review was underway of the commercial rationality of the first project for investment in the United States.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo, presiding over the external economic ministers' meeting that day, said in his opening remarks, "The government will put the national interest first and work closely with the United States to stably manage trade relations with the United States."
The "global 10% universal tariff" introduced by the Donald Trump administration in February expires on the 24th. After that, the Trump administration may introduce country- and industry-specific tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act. Enacted in 1974, Section 301 of the Trade Act allows the president to impose tariffs and other sanctions in response to unfair or discriminatory trade practices.
Earlier, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said on June 2 (local time) that it would impose an additional tariff of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies that failed to properly implement import bans on products made with forced labor. Korea was included among the countries that could be subject to a 12.5% tariff. It said Korea failed both to introduce and to enforce import bans on goods produced with forced labor.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, "We are responding from the perspective of the national interest to tariff measures such as the United States' global provisional tariff, item-specific tariffs, and Section 301 investigations related to overproduction and forced labor, as well as follow-up implementation in non-tariff areas."