Minister Kim Jung-kwan says U.S. tariffs are expected to remain at 15%

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jungkwan said he believes the tariffs the United States intends to apply to South Korea will not exceed the 15% level agreed upon in the original KoreaU.S. agreement. In a broadcast interview on the 5th, he introduced the contents of his recent video meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. Minister Kim said that while there had been concerns when talk of a 12.5% tariff emerged in a situation where the United States was pushing ahead with tariffs based on Section 301 of the Trade Act, Secretary Lutnick said it was a process of maintaining the existing 15% as agreed. He also stressed that any measure exceeding 15% would break the KoreaU.S. agreement. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative recently announced the results of a Section 301 investigation related to forced labor and signaled that it would impose a 12.5% tariff on South Korea. However, uncertainty remains over the final tariff rate, as the results of an additional investigation related to overproduction are still pending. Referring to the KoreaU.S. Strategic Investment Corporation, which will launch on the 18th, Minister Kim said U.S.bound investment projects are also being discussed based on commercial rationality and the mutual interests of the two countries.