Head of Korea's Trade Ministry Yeo Hang-gu Urges USTR Representative to Improve Steel Section 232 System and Start Negotiations

US-Korea Trade Ministers Meeting Held

Yeo Han-gu, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. (Photo by Yeo Han-gu)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Ye Han-gu, Director General of the Trade Negotiations Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, urged Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative (USTR), on the 19th to improve the system related to Section 232 on steel and to commence negotiations.

On the same day, Director General Ye held the 6th Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Joint Committee meeting with Representative Tai at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

This Korea-US FTA Joint Committee was held as a channel for trade ministers to review the implementation status of the Korea-US FTA, which came into effect in 2012 and is approaching its 10th anniversary in March next year, and to discuss trade issues between the two countries.

The visit of the USTR representative to Korea is the first in 10 years and the first visit by an economic and trade minister of the US Biden administration to Korea.

Representative Tai is the first Asian American female trade minister and a key figure leading the Biden administration's trade policy. During the Trump administration, she was recognized for contributing to preventing the termination of the Korea-US FTA at the US Congress level.

At this trade ministerial meeting, ways to strengthen the Korea-US strategic partnership on new trade issues such as supply chains, technology, digital, and climate change related to trade policy were discussed. The two countries agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership on various new trade issues including supply chains, technology, digital, and climate change in relation to recent changes in the global trade order and paradigm. To this end, they agreed to establish channels under the Korea-US FTA framework to discuss and cooperate in depth on these issues.

Additionally, they reiterated Korea’s position and concerns regarding the US steel Section 232 raised during the Korea-US Commerce Ministers meeting on the 10th, and requested the US to promptly commence consultations on Section 232.

Furthermore, the two countries evaluated that the Korea-US FTA has greatly contributed to enhancing economic and trade relations between the two countries in the past decade, marking the 10th anniversary next year. They agreed that the trade authorities of both countries will jointly strive to ensure that the Korea-US FTA continues to play an important role and contribute to strengthening the solid alliance and forming a future-oriented partnership.

On the same day, immediately after the joint committee, the two countries held a 'public-private joint session' to discuss cooperation measures between the public and private sectors of both countries under the new global trade environment with major companies from Korea and the US such as GM, CJ, 3M, and Samsung Biologics. The participating companies discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between the governments and industries of both countries in line with recent trends in carbon neutrality and social responsibility, including ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), along with measures to restore supply chain resilience amid recent logistics disruptions.

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