Choi Daehang on US Tariff Suspension: "Monitoring Developments... Multi-angle Assessment of Industry Impact"

Foreign Economic Issues Meeting Held

Yonhap News

Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated on the 4th regarding the Trump administration's decision to delay the imposition of tariffs, "We will keep all possibilities open, closely monitor the developments, and thoroughly assess the impact on our industries from multiple angles."

At the Foreign Economic Issues Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the same day, Acting President Choi said, "It is very fortunate that the Trump administration's tariff imposition on Mexico and Canada has been postponed for a month."

The meeting was attended by Cho Tae-yeol, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bang Ki-seon, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Park Sung-taek, First Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Jung In-kyo, Head of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Sung Tae-yoon, Director of the Policy Office, and Shin Won-sik, Director of the National Security Office, among others.

Acting President Choi pointed out, "If the U.S. tariff measures and responses from various countries continue, uncertainties in our exports and the overall economy may increase, and there is also a possibility that the U.S. tariff measures could expand to the European Union (EU) and others in the future."

He added, "Amid these uncertainties, we will systematically respond by exploring all possible means to minimize the negative impact on our economy."

Regarding the tariff delay, he emphasized, "We will keep all possibilities open and closely monitor the developments through consultative bodies such as the 'Foreign Economic Issues Meeting' and the 'Meeting with Overseas Business Operators,' while thoroughly assessing the impact on our industries from various perspectives."

He continued, "We will actively communicate with officials from the new U.S. administration to ensure that our position is reflected as much as possible, and we will also share information and seek response measures with major countries that hold similar views."

He also promised support to resolve difficulties faced by companies. Acting President Choi said, "We will operate a help desk to support small and medium-sized enterprises operating in countries subject to tariffs and prepare support measures for companies returning due to unavoidable production adjustments."

Earlier, President Trump announced that he would delay the implementation of the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, just one day before the scheduled enforcement. Following a phone call with the President of Mexico the previous day, they agreed on the delay after Mexico immediately dispatched 10,000 troops to the northern border region to block fentanyl inflow and illegal immigration. After two rounds of phone negotiations with the Canadian Prime Minister, the tariff imposition was also postponed. Canada committed to investing $1.3 billion to strengthen the border and deploying 10,000 personnel to block drug trafficking at the border.

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