Seoul, November 19, 2018 : .The top South Korean trade representative called upon the US Friday to quickly begin negotiations to repeal the Trump administration’s tariffs on Seoul’s steel exports. According to Yonhap News Agency, Yeo Han-koo from South Korea made the request for Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative to visit her during a meeting of the joint committee on the bilateral free trade accord.
This is the first visit by a top US trade official to South Korea in over ten years.
Seoul’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated in a statement that they had “repeated our stance and concerns concerning Section 232 regulations, and demanded the two parties begin negotiations at an earlier date.”
South Korea is pushing for revisions to the Section 232 tariff rules.
In October, the US lifted import tariffs at 25% on European steel and 10% on aluminum.These were imposed in 2018 by Donald Trump.
This lifting will take place on January 1, 2022.
The US lifted tariffs on South Korean goods in 2018 but this was in exchange for 2.63 million tonnes steel a year, which is 70% of Seoul’s steel export volumes over the last three years.
Yeo and Tai met Friday to discuss ways they could strengthen their partnership in new areas like supply chains or climate change.
The two discussed important issues that were mutually of concern such as digital markets and new technology in the agricultural sector.They also talked about certificates of origin, visas, and other certifications.
Since March 2002, when the free trade agreement was implemented, the bilateral trade volume grew by 26 percent to $131.6 million.
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