As the United States increases pressure on South Korea to reinstate tariffs on its products, Yeo Han-goo, the head of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Trade Negotiation Headquarters, will meet with Rick Switzer, the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, in Seoul on the 11th to discuss bilateral trade issues, including non-tariff barriers.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Yeo will consult with Deputy Switzer on various trade matters during their meeting.
Following President Donald Trump’s announcement on January 26 regarding plans to reinstate tariffs on South Korea, Yeo visited Washington D.C. from January 29 to February 4 to engage in discussions with U.S. officials. During this visit, he also met with Deputy Switzer to address trade issues, including non-tariff barriers.
Deputy Switzer’s current visit to Seoul is seen as a continuation of the discussions held in Washington D.C.
Over the past month, Yeo has conducted three high-level meetings with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). He met with USTR representative Jamieson Greer during his visit to Washington D.C. from January 11 to 14, and continued discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland from January 19 to 23. After Trump’s comments on tariff increases, he held additional discussions with the USTR in Washington D.C., and is now continuing those talks in South Korea.
The main topic of discussion is expected to be the reduction of non-tariff barriers as outlined in the joint fact sheet agreed upon by both countries last year.
The non-tariff provisions in the joint fact sheet include: eliminating the quota (50,000 units) for importing U.S. cars into Korea without additional modifications when they meet federal safety standards; not requiring additional documentation when certifying emissions for U.S. cars; streamlining the approval process for agricultural biotechnology products; establishing a dedicated department for U.S. horticultural products and ensuring access to certain meat and cheese markets; non-discrimination against U.S. companies in laws and policies regarding digital services, including network usage fees and online platform regulations; and cooperation on cross-border data transfer related to location, reinsurance, and personal data.
The two countries planned to hold a joint committee meeting on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) last December to begin implementing these non-tariff barrier agreements, but differing positions have prevented the meeting from taking place thus far.
According to Politico, a U.S. political news outlet, the U.S. expressed concerns about non-tariff barriers in the digital sector, and the lack of alignment between the two sides has led to the cancellation of the joint committee meeting.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Park Jin stated on the 9th during a government Q&A session in the National Assembly that Jamieson Greer, the USTR representative, said if there is no progress on improving non-tariff barriers, they will raise tariffs to address the trade deficit. Park added that Greer mentioned they have to engage in trade negotiations with all countries and hopes that Korea understands this and that the government will expedite discussions.
Currently, the South Korean government is focusing on resolving the issues raised by the U.S. regarding the pace of implementation to prevent the official announcement in the Federal Register of the U.S. increasing tariffs on South Korean products from 15% to 25%.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Ku Yoon-cheol stated on the 10th during a ‘Foreign Economic Ministers’ meeting that they will temporarily operate a committee to implement the Korea-U.S. strategic investment MOU, involving the Minister of Industry, deputy ministers from relevant departments, and related agencies.
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