KITA: "Readjustment of U.S. Tariff Policy... Korea's Competitiveness as an FTA Partner Could Improve"

"Follow-up Guidelines from U.S. Customs Expected"

Analysts say that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that reciprocal tariffs are illegal is forcing President Donald Trump's tariff policy to be readjusted, which could strengthen the competitiveness of Korean products in the U.S. market.

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) stated in a press briefing on the 22nd that the U.S. tariff structure is expected to shift to a system of "Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) tariffs + 15% tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act."

Under the previous U.S. tariff structure, export competitors to the United States such as Japan and the European Union (EU) were subject to a "MFN + reciprocal tariffs combined = 15%" structure. Although Korea is a free trade agreement (FTA) partner, it was still subject to the same "15% tariff" as these countries. However, with the restructuring of the U.S. tariff system, there is now a possibility that Korea will be able to benefit from the "FTA effect."

KITA predicted that follow-up guidelines from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would be announced soon. Although President Trump issued an executive order immediately after the Supreme Court ruling to swiftly halt the collection of reciprocal tariffs, this does not mean that tariff collection is automatically stopped at once.

KITA argued that Korea must also prepare for the possibility that, after imposing a global 15% tariff on all countries and all imports under Section 122 of the Trade Act, President Trump could, within the maximum 150-day imposition period for this tariff, conduct investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act and then impose new tariffs.

KITA also mentioned that major U.S. investors in Coupang have petitioned the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to initiate a "Section 301 investigation," claiming that the Korean government's response to a personal information leak treated U.S. companies unfairly and in a discriminatory manner. It stressed that Korea itself could become a potential target of investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act, making it necessary to prepare a response.

KITA pointed out that the U.S. government had already launched investigations last year under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act into pharmaceuticals, aircraft and jet engines, drones, wind turbines, and robots and industrial machinery, and added, "In addition to this, we must also prepare for the possibility that tariff measures on semiconductors and their derivatives will be expanded and strengthened."

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