U.S. Trade Secretary Visits Korea for the First Time in 10 Years... Discusses Supply Chain and Digital Cooperation

USTR Representative to Visit Korea on the 18th Following Japan and India... Expected to Meet Trade Headquarters Chief

Yeohan Gu, Director-General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (left), poses for a commemorative photo with Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative, on the 12th of last month (local time) in Sorrento, Italy. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The head of the U.S. trade authorities is drawing attention by visiting Korea for the first time in 10 years. It is expected that various agendas, including semiconductor supply chains, economic and trade issues between the two countries, and digital trade agreements, will be discussed in depth.

According to the government on the 14th, Katherine Tai, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), will visit Seoul on the 18th. This is the first official visit by a U.S. trade minister to Korea in 10 years since the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations were in full swing in 2011. Representative Tai will first visit Japan on the 15th, stay in Korea from the 18th, and then head to India on the 22nd.

During her visit, Representative Tai is expected to meet with government officials, including Yeo Han-gu, Director-General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, to discuss trade issues. Key issues include ▲stabilizing supply chains of core industries such as semiconductors ▲incentives related to Korean companies’ investments in the U.S. ▲U.S. government’s semiconductor company supply chain data investigation ▲Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act on steel ▲technology and digital trade cooperation ▲and cooperation on climate crisis response. Previously, Korea and the U.S. agreed to cooperate on stabilizing semiconductor supply chains by sharing information on semiconductor technology and investment priorities and coordinating supply chain deployment efforts. As a result, the exchange channel, the "Korea-U.S. Industrial Cooperation Dialogue," which had been conducted at the director-general level, will be elevated to the ministerial level, and the first meeting of the "Korea-U.S. Semiconductor Partnership Dialogue," a director-general level semiconductor dialogue channel, is scheduled for the 8th of next month.

The government is expected to further solidify semiconductor cooperation and coordinate detailed agendas for the partnership dialogue meeting during the meeting with Representative Tai. Regarding the submission of data by semiconductor companies, it is anticipated that the government will request strict protection of trade secrets and that no additional measures be imposed.

Additionally, the government is expected to reiterate its request that Korean companies making large-scale investments in the U.S. receive the same incentives as U.S. companies. Since the Korea-U.S. summit in May, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have pledged a total of 44 trillion won in investments in the U.S., and the government has continuously demanded non-discriminatory support for Korean companies during discussions on incentive legislation in the U.S.

The government is also expected to actively engage in consultations related to Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act on steel. So far, the government has requested the U.S. to consider expanding quotas and operational flexibility for Korean steel products, given that negotiations between the U.S. and the European Union (EU) on steel under Section 232 have been concluded. The U.S. authorities have stated that they will consider improvements through working-level consultations, but it is known that such consultations between the two sides have not yet begun. The U.S. has started negotiations with Japan on Section 232 related to steel first. Since the outcome of negotiations between the two countries will inevitably affect Korean steel, the Korean government is in an urgent position to promptly begin full-scale consultations.

Since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration, the U.S. has prioritized countering China as the top diplomatic and economic security agenda and has focused on strengthening relations with allies in the Indo-Pacific region. Representative Tai’s visit to Korea, Japan, and India is also interpreted as part of this effort.

In particular, it is expected that the visit will focus on producing outcomes related to the Indo-Pacific Digital Trade Agreement. According to a recent report by the U.S. trade specialist publication Inside US Trade, the U.S. administration is seriously considering promoting a digital trade agreement within the Indo-Pacific region and plans to advance consultations with the relevant countries. Accordingly, it is anticipated that in-depth discussions will be held during Representative Tai’s visit to Korea to produce more concrete and effective results. The Indo-Pacific Digital Trade Agreement is politically easier and more likely to gain industry support than an FTA, making it an agenda that the U.S. Congress is pushing forward on a bipartisan basis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.