Korea

The request will be heard at a special DSB meeting on Aug. 9.
 

“Japan’s trade-restrictive measures could not only hurt Korean enterprises but also disrupt the global supply chain.”

The company says the “current safeguard remedy is imposing a cost of approximately $1.5 billion each year on consumers.”

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-ching and representatives from a major Korean auto group are in Washington, DC, this week for meetings with U.S. lawmakers and government officials to reiterate Seoul's opposition to the Section 232 auto probe.

South Korea should be prepared to challenge national security-based import restrictions on Korean autos and auto parts at the World Trade Organization and elsewhere because such duties are “not logical,” a former senior Korean trade official said on Wednesday.

“The main compliment of the KORUS FTA was on the automobile sector. And to be frank, we don’t think it makes much sense if it applies to Korea because we accommodated most of the demands on the U.S. side on automobiles.”

The Trump administration will have its hands full in 2019, with new talks slated to begin with Brussels, Tokyo, London and potentially more, as well as the implementation of a revised deal with South Korea. The fate of the U.S.-Mexico -Canada Agreement will also be determined next year by a new Congress.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking public comments on South Korea's World Trade Organization challenge of U.S. safeguard restrictions on imports of large residential washers.

Washington and Seoul will hold consultations under the auspices of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement to discuss revising the rules of origin for textile products that are not commercially available in either country.