Washington: Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo has called on the Trump administration to grant South Korea tariff exemptions and ensure that the Asian ally is treated in a "non-discriminatory" manner. Cheong met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington as President Donald Trump prepared to implement "reciprocal tariffs" on April 2. These tariffs will be based on U.S. trading partners' duties on American goods, non-tariff barriers, and other factors, including exchange rate policies.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Cheong emphasized the importance of exempting South Korea from these tariffs or at least ensuring South Korea is treated similarly to major countries. He pointed out that reciprocal tariffs should not be influenced by Trump's recent statement in a congressional address, which claimed Korea's average tariff is four times higher than that of the U.S. Seoul has responded to this claim by noting that South Korea's average tariff rate on U.S. products is less than 1 percent under a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
South Korea's average tariff on its most-favored nations (MFNs) is approximately 13.4 percent, compared to the U.S.' 3.3 percent on its MFNs. However, this rate does not apply to countries with free trade agreements with South Korea. Cheong noted that both countries' tariffs are nearly zero percent under the FTA. He underscored the value of the Korea-U.S. FTA as a framework for comprehensive economic cooperation. Both sides agreed to continue working-level consultations to find a reasonable and mutually beneficial solution regarding tariff measures.
Additionally, Cheong used the meeting with the USTR to emphasize the need to exempt South Korean steel products from the 25 percent tariffs that were recently implemented. He explained that South Korean steel exports do not threaten the security of the U.S. industry and contribute to supply chain stabilization and downstream industrial competitiveness by providing items that the U.S. lacks in production.