South Korea's major business groups have renewed calls for the National Assembly to swiftly pass the "Special Act for Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Management," currently pending in the legislature.
Six leading economic organizations—the Korea Enterprises Federation, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korea Employers Federation, Korea International Trade Association, Korea Federation of SMEs, and Korea Association of Medium Business—issued an urgent appeal on Tuesday urging lawmakers to pass the bill before the special committee's deadline of June 9.
"We earnestly request that the National Assembly pass the U.S. investment bill promptly so that Korean companies can minimize trade risks and actively pursue exports to the United States," the groups stated.
The organizations emphasized that trade uncertainty has intensified since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 20 that the Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unlawful.
"Following this ruling, there are concerns that the U.S. may use alternative legislation to maintain its existing tariff policy direction while selectively imposing additional tariffs on specific countries and products," they warned. "This is a grave situation where exports of key domestic industries including semiconductors, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals to the U.S. will be directly affected, raising concerns about declining industrial competitiveness."
The groups cautioned that delays in passing the bill would weaken Korea's negotiating leverage and make it difficult to realize the benefits of Korea-U.S. economic cooperation.
In January, President Trump cited the failure to pass the U.S. investment bill as grounds for raising product-specific tariffs and all reciprocal tariffs back to 25%—the level before the Korea-U.S. trade agreement. The Supreme Court ruling and Trump's strong reaction have further heightened uncertainty.
The National Assembly's special committee on the bill is set to resume activities on Wednesday. Lawmakers plan to complete subcommittee deliberations and vote by the morning of June 9. A legislative public hearing was held on May 24, but the Democratic Party of Korea's move to advance so-called "judicial reform bills" prevented completion of bill presentation and subcommittee formation. The People Power Party's subsequent filibuster blocked special committee meetings. Both ruling and opposition parties have indicated they will accelerate deliberations given the approaching deadline.