The Korea Times
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Thursday his U.S. counterpart has reaffirmed that Korea will not face greater tariffs than agreed under the bilateral trade deal between the two countries, following the office of the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) recent announcement of the results of the Section 301 probe into imports related to forced labor. Kim said in a social media post that he held talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick via a video call on Wednesday, shortly after the office of the USTR proposed imposing tariffs of 10 percent, or 12.5 percent, on imported goods from 60 economies over their alleged failure to enforce an import ban on goods produced with forced labor. Korea, China and Japan are among 54 economies that could be subject to the proposed 12.5 percent tariff as a result of the USTR's forced labor probe under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. "We reviewed the implementation status of the Korea-U.S. tariff agreement finalized last year and reaffirmed our commitment to upholding the deal," Kim wrote. "In particular, the U.S. side once again confirmed that
Go to News Site