The United States has expressed its intention to honor existing agreements, Korea's top trade negotiator said, following Washington's announcement of a "Super 301" investigation targeting 16 countries including Korea.
Yeo Han-koo, Minister for Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, made the remarks during a Q&A session with reporters on the 12th, shortly after the US announced the Section 301 probe. He was responding to questions about whether the investigation could lead to tariffs on Korean goods exceeding the 15% rate established under the existing bilateral agreement.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on the 11th (local time) through the Federal Register that it would launch a Section 301 investigation into acts, policies, and practices related to structural overcapacity in the manufacturing sector. The probe targets 16 economies including Korea, China, the European Union, and Japan. Stakeholders must submit written comments between the 17th of this month and April 15th, with public hearings scheduled to begin May 5th.
"The US's primary objective is to restore tariff levels that existed before the Supreme Court's ruling that deemed reciprocal tariffs unconstitutional," Yeo said. "Since Korea has already reached a tariff agreement with the US, we have repeatedly conveyed to the American side that the outcome must not disadvantage us relative to other countries under most-favored-nation treatment, nor deviate from the spirit of our agreement."
Regarding the possibility of Section 301 investigations into major domestic non-tariff barriers such as digital and agricultural policies, Yeo said, "We cannot prejudge such matters at this point." He added, "We cannot rule out the possibility that the US government may launch investigations in various sectors using Section 301, an extremely powerful legal instrument."
USTR is expected to announce this week whether it will initiate Section 301 investigations targeting approximately 60 countries regarding forced labor practices.