Tariff Reduction on 72 Items Including Coffee and Semiconductor Materials... "Total Scale of 1.1 Trillion Won"

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The government will apply tariff quotas to 72 items next year, including coffee, yarn, and semiconductor materials. The aim is to reduce the burden on the low-income economy and strengthen the competitiveness of new industries such as semiconductors and secondary batteries.

On the 2nd, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced the legislative notice of the "2025 Regular Flexible Tariff Operation Plan" containing these details. To enhance industrial competitiveness, tariff quotas will be applied to 53 items including 20 in new growth sectors such as semiconductors, 14 in traditional sectors such as automobiles, and 19 in vulnerable sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, as well as 19 imported raw materials to stabilize prices and supply.

Under this measure, the tariff rate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) used for power generation and city gas will be maintained at 0% until the first quarter of next year, down from 3%. The tariff quotas on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used for cooking and transportation by residents in rural areas without city gas supply, as well as crude oil for LPG production, will also be extended until the first half of next year.

For crude oil used in naphtha production, a 0% tariff will be applied year-round to alleviate the management difficulties of the petrochemical industry, which is experiencing large-scale profit declines due to global economic uncertainties and structural oversupply, and to promote business diversification and restructuring.

Tariff benefits will also be granted to core high value-added industries such as semiconductor and display materials. Five items including copper foil for copper-clad laminates (CCL), glass fiber, tin ingots for exposure equipment, anhydrous hydrofluoric acid, and masks (FMS) for organic material deposition will be added to the tariff quota application list. In the secondary battery sector, in addition to the previously supported artificial graphite, electrodes, electrolytes, and PE separators, tariff quotas will newly apply to lithium hydroxide and adsorbents.

Furthermore, to stabilize food prices for low-income households, support will be maintained for food raw materials such as corn (for processing), soybeans, sugar, and potato starch, which are either not produced domestically or have insufficient supply, raising concerns about price increases.

For seven items including cocoa beans, coffee, orange concentrate, radish, and carrots, which currently receive emergency tariff quota support due to recent price instability, support will continue under regular tariff quotas.

Items subject to adjustment tariffs are similar to this year, including 13 items such as gochujang (red chili paste), live sea bream, and frozen pollock. Adjustment tariffs are flexible tariffs that raise tariff rates only when the import increase of specific goods disrupts the domestic market or threatens the collapse of the industrial base.

Special emergency tariffs on agricultural and livestock products, operated to prepare for a surge in imports of low-priced rice, rice processed products, and ginseng, will apply to 16 types of grains and 24 types of ginseng products.

Regarding the increase of market access quotas (TRQ) operated to ensure stable supply and demand of agricultural and livestock products that are insufficiently produced domestically and highly dependent on imports, support will be provided for 15 items including sesame, red beans, mung beans, and malt, but the scale is expected to be slightly reduced to 480,000 tons compared to 540,000 tons this year.

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