Prime Minister Kim Min-seok suggested that the existing framework for US-Korea tariff negotiations would likely remain intact following the US Supreme Court's ruling that struck down reciprocal tariffs as unlawful.
"This is not purely a legal matter but a political and economic negotiation based on both sides' trade interests," Kim said at a "K-Government Briefing" held in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on Monday afternoon.
Regarding the Supreme Court decision, Kim said the court "made a judgment on the democratic operating principles of American politics, not on whether the tariffs were right or wrong." He noted that the ruling reaffirmed the basic American political principle that "laws are made by Congress."
The US Supreme Court on Sunday (local time) finalized its ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which President Trump used as the legal basis for imposing reciprocal tariffs, exceeded its authority. The court determined that the power to collect taxes, including tariffs, belongs to Congress, and that IEEPA's vague provisions did not delegate unlimited tariff authority to the president.
"We will need to discuss in various situations whether to reset all previous tariff negotiations to zero or whether conditions can be changed," Kim said. However, he drew a clear line, stating that "fundamentally, tariff negotiations were not conducted purely for legal reasons but as political and economic negotiations based on both sides' trade interests."
"We will honor the agreements between the two governments, but since the US now faces a situation shaken by legal issues, we will keep our promises while taking a comprehensive view of the situation," Kim added.