Jin Park Expresses Concerns Over 'IRA' in Meeting with Visiting US House Representative

FTA, WTO Norm Violation Concerns Raised
U.S. House Representative Expresses Intent to Convey South Korea's Concerns

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 5th, Foreign Minister Park Jin met with visiting U.S. House Representatives and expressed concerns about the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), requesting cooperation.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Park held a luncheon with a delegation of eight U.S. House Representatives, including Stephanie Murphy (Democrat, Florida), and argued that the discriminatory elements in the IRA’s revision of electric vehicle tax credits may violate the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

Foreign Minister Park Jin is reading President Yoon Suk-yeol's congratulatory letter at the Korea-China 30th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Reception held on the 24th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Minister Park requested that the U.S. Congress pay special attention and cooperate to ensure that Korean companies investing in job creation within the U.S. are not adversely affected by this.

The U.S. lawmakers reportedly responded that they would convey Korea’s concerns about the IRA to the relevant committees and discuss the matter with their colleagues, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The IRA provides a tax credit benefit of up to $7,500 (approximately 10 million KRW) per vehicle only for electric vehicles that are finally assembled in North America.

As a result, the sales competitiveness of Korean-made electric vehicles, which are excluded from the subsidy benefits, has been impacted.

Meanwhile, Minister Park expressed gratitude for the strong support of the U.S. Congress for the Korea-U.S. alliance and requested continued interest and support for securing professional visa quotas for Koreans and supporting Korean companies’ activities in the U.S.

He evaluated that as a global comprehensive strategic alliance, Korea and the U.S. are strengthening cooperation beyond the Korean Peninsula on a global scale, and the U.S. lawmakers responded that Congress would actively support the continued development of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

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