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Seoul to set up help desk for U.S. firms facing difficulties in Korea: Trade minister
Korea JoongAng
Daily - Korea will establish a new office to help U.S. companies facing
potential challenges from the country's nontariff trade measures, Trade
Minister Yeo Han-koo said Friday.
The U.S. Help
Desk will launch under the wing of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency
(KOTRA) to help U.S. companies do business in a better environment, the trade
minister said in a meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in
Korea (Amcham), including Amcham Chairman and CEO James Kim.
“Korea will
work to bolster the manufacturing renaissance partnership with the U.S. in key
strategic sectors, such as shipbuilding, automobiles, semiconductors,
biopharmaceuticals, batteries and nuclear power,” Yeo said meeting, which was
attended by officials from GM Korea, Lockheed Martin and Eli Lilly, among
others.
Yeo also
called for “active” investment from U.S. companies in Korea's artificial
intelligence industry and data centers, underscoring that trade uncertainties
surrounding Asia's fourth-largest economy have lessened with the latest trade
deal reached last week between Seoul and Washington.
The trade
minister emphasized that the deal has also helped secure a favorable treatment
of Korean exporters compared with their global rivals in terms of U.S. tariffs.
The Amcham
chairman said he welcomes and supports the Korea-U.S. tariff deal while calling
for continued communication between the two countries as bilateral talks on
sensitive trade issues are expected to continue in the future.
Under the
tariff deal, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration lowered the
reciprocal tariff rate for Korea to 15 percent from the initially proposed 25
percent and also cut auto tariffs on Korean cars to 15 percent from 25 percent.
In return,
Seoul made a pledge to invest a combined $350 billion in the United States for
cooperation in shipbuilding, semiconductors and other advanced industries while
agreeing to purchase $100 billion worth of U.S. energy.
