S. Korea launches feasibility study on trade negotiation items with US: sources
South Korea is checking the economic feasibility of various items that may come as the result of trade negotiations with the United States to assess the impact of such items on the national economy, government sources said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy recently asked the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy to conduct a feasibility study on agenda items of the ongoing trade negotiations between Seoul and Washington, according to the sources familiar with the matter.
The two countries have been working to craft a package deal on trade issues, including tariffs, non-tariff barriers and economic cooperation, by July 8, when the 90-day pause on the Donald Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs will end.
South Korea has been seeking to gain a full exemption or reduction of the Trump administration's 25 percent reciprocal tariffs for the country, as well as sectoral tariffs on steel, automobile and other imports.
In a working-level meeting last week, the office of US Trade Representative urged Seoul to resolve non-trade barrier issues listed on its 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, a Seoul trade official has said on the condition of anonymity.
The NTE report had laid out a wide range of Korea's non-tariff measures, including its import ban on American beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, South Korea's "offset" defense trade policy, digital trade barriers, such as restrictions on the export of location-based data, and emission-related regulations on imported cars, as well as pricing policies for pharmaceuticals.
Though details of Washington's requests have not been disclosed, industry watchers say the US may have also raised an issue with Seoul's high tariffs on rice imports, which Trump has mentioned as an example of trade barriers by foreign countries in his speech announcing the country-by-country reciprocal tariffs in early April.
Seoul's baseline tariff on rice imports stands at 513 percent, but the country actually implements only a 5 percent tariff on a yearly import quota of up to 132,304 tons of US rice.
South Korea's trade treaty law requires the government to conduct economic feasibility studies on new trade deals that may have a significant influence on the national economy and submit a report on the negotiations to the National Assembly.
South Korea plans to pass the baton of the ongoing tariff negotiations with the US to the next government as the country is set to hold its presidential election next Tuesday, with the incoming administration widely expected to take office the very next day.
"The US seems to have put many issues on the table as part of its negotiation strategy, but given the timeline and South Korea's domestic situation, Washington likely understands that it is difficult to reach a conclusion on these matters in the near future," a government official said. (Yonhap)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
![[Patricia Murphy] 'Big beautiful bill' a boondoggle](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwimg.heraldcorp.com%2Fnews%2Fcms%2F2025%2F06%2F03%2Fnews-p.v1.20250603.feb573661a2447cd9a1ea66b4611f094_T1.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
![[Patricia Murphy] 'Big beautiful bill' a boondoggle](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fall-logos-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fkoreaherald.com.png&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Korea Herald
[Patricia Murphy] 'Big beautiful bill' a boondoggle
Days before the US House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill,' Moody's Ratings agency had an ominous warning about the US economy. Because of America's recent history of running up huge debts and deficits, and no change in sight, 'the United States' fiscal performance is likely to deteriorate' relative to similar countries. As a part of that warning, Moody's downgraded the country's credit rating from its Aaa score to Aa1. Despite that red flag, House leaders forged ahead, passing their 10-year tax-and-spend plan, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, by a single vote. Unfortunately, the bill not only ignores Moody's debt warning, it looks more like one big, beautiful boondoggle. Included in the gargantuan bill are $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, more than $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and other social programs, and significant boosts in spending for defense and immigration enforcement. Costs of some social programs, including food stamps, are also shifted to states by the House. My colleague Tia Mitchell reported this week that Georgia officials could now be on the hook for more than $800 million in food spending if the Republicans' bill goes through. All of the cuts to social safety net programs came, in part, to help pay for the tax cuts in the bill, which are heavily weighted toward high-income earners. For example, the working-class tax breaks that Trump promised on the campaign trail, namely eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay and car loan interest, will only last through the end of Trump's term in 2028. But the income tax cuts, including for the richest Americans, as well as tax breaks for estates and investment income all become permanent. The House also stuffed loads of perks for special interests into the 1,100-page bill. One measure bans states from passing new regulations on artificial intelligence for 10 years. So if Georgia lawmakers decide they want to limit the use of AI in Georgia classrooms, like they did with cellphones this year, the Big Beautiful Bill Act would stop that until 2036. It would also mean Georgia lawmakers could not pass SB 9, a bill to ban deepfakes in political ads, which passed the state House and Senate earlier this year, but did not get to final passage. A different measure, this one for gun dealers, was put into the bill by Georgia's US Rep. Andrew Clyde. The Republican from Athens owns two large gun stores, which both sell gun silencers. Clyde flipped from a 'no' to a 'yes' after the $200 tax on silencers was eliminated, at a cost of $1.4 billion. Of all of the special interests in the bill, the most special of all seems to be Trump himself. The bill mentions Trump's name 52 times. It also creates new $1,000 savings accounts for babies born during Trump's second term called 'Trump Accounts.' It even has language to make it harder for federal courts to enforce injunctions against executive branch officials, a lot like the injunctions Trump has run into as he tries to expand his own powers in the White House. Every spending bill is a political document, of course, and a Republican Congress cutting taxes and rolling back Biden-era climate measures is no surprise. But what is a surprise is the bill's price tag, $3.94 trillion, which will all get piled onto the nation's $36 trillion debt that Moody's just warned about. For every tax cut and spending measure that may be a good idea on its merits, it's all getting paid for with more borrowed money. It's a long way from the Tea Party movement, which exploded onto the scene in 2009 after the US Congress passed big bailouts for banks following the 2008 financial crisis. The national debt then was $13 trillion, one-third of what it is today. Republicans then promised they would finally tackle the debt and the deficit. This bill does the opposite. Even Elon Musk, the mastermind of the "Department of Government Efficiency," said so on his last day as a government employee this week, adding that the bill 'undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.' 'It can be big or beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both,' he said. If I were a House Republican at the beginning of this year, I would have had one job: to reduce the debt and deficit. With Trump in the White House, Republicans in control of Congress, and Musk promising to modernize and remake the federal government, the House bill was supposed to be the vehicle for all of that to happen. Instead, they just passed one big, beautiful boondoggle.
![[Kim Seong-kon] What we expect from our new president](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwimg.heraldcorp.com%2Fnews%2Fcms%2F2025%2F06%2F03%2Fnews-p.v1.20250603.9f11c6d27b004f1184de174e67354397_T1.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Korea Herald
[Kim Seong-kon] What we expect from our new president
The 2025 presidential election day is over now. Whoever may be inaugurated as our next president, he will be heavily burdened with so many urgent tasks because the country's situation is unprecedentedly dire. Among others, our new leader must put an end to the chronic sickness of political revenge that has plagued our country for the past two decades. In the eyes of foreigners, South Korea may look like a politically underdeveloped country because no president has been safe since 2009: one died by suicide, one was imprisoned and two were impeached. Another one is presently under investigation by the prosecution. Such incidents are far from normal. They are not supposed to happen in a fully developed, advanced country. Indeed, that is why our new president must find and appoint truly able and competent cabinet members. Some of his predecessors ran the country with the help of amateurs, such as their former high-school buddies, or those who were already personally close to them, regardless of their aptitude or qualifications. Such nepotism has caused a lot of damage to our country. Our new president also must not forget or ignore the fact that South Korea is a Free World country of liberal democracy, not an authoritarian socialist country of a so-called 'people's democracy.' It is imperative that he honor and value liberal democracy and should not attempt to change the fundamentals of our country according to his own political ideology. These days, experts have pointed out that democracy is in jeopardy, as it produces legitimately elected dictators. Thus, we hope that our new leader is an unpretentious, humanitarian person, not an elected tyrant who manipulates and controls the administrative, the legislative and the judicial branches all together. If he is self-righteous, opinionated and tyrannical, he will surely ruin our country and make our lives miserable. To ensure Korea survives these international crises, our leader needs to be a skillful diplomat who, depending on the situation, can use, as needed, both what Dag Hammarskjold has called "quiet diplomacy," and 'wolf warrior diplomacy,' another term that one of our neighboring countries is using these days. The most outstanding and compelling diplomatic issue we are now facing is how to deal with America's 'reciprocal benefits' policy. In other words, how to deal with the heavy tariffs recently imposed by the US and the expense-sharing issue for the US troops stationed in Korea. Experts suggest that South Korea's unparalleled shipbuilding industry and semiconductor technology could serve as good leverage when we deal with America. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is now considering the relocation of 4,500 out of 28,500 American soldiers in South Korea to Guam and other Indo-Pacific regions. The US government may think that such 'strategic flexibility' is necessary, especially when war clouds are hanging over Taiwan. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, it is 'a move that could stir new anxiety among allies worried about the White House commitment to Asia.' Therefore, our new president must find the best way to deal with the above issues. For one thing, he should persuade the US government that the American troops in Korea are mutually beneficial because they also serve America's strategies to deter North Korea. He also should remind American politicians how America, too, greatly benefited from the help of their blood ally, South Korea, during the Vietnam War. Another diplomatic conflict our new leader must solve is our neighboring countries' violation of our sea and air borders. We hope our new president can valiantly stand tall, strongly protest and boldly exercise countermeasures, if necessary. If our president seems timid or weak, our country will not only lose respect but also end up inviting more aggressive violations of international laws from other countries. In addition, our new president also must prepare for the anticipated side effects of a possible war in Taiwan. Experts have warned of two possibilities if a Taiwan War broke out by any chance. One is that US airbases in South Korea might be attacked by missiles. The other possibility is that North Korea might provoke a war by miscalculation. Either way, we should be prepared. These days, political analysts worry that the world is now regressing to the World War II era when the strong manipulated the weak. It is unnerving and disheartening news to us, to say the least. To protect us from foreign aggression, we may need to join the league of countries sharing the same values, including Japan, Australia and Southeast Asian countries. We hope that our new president knows where to go and what to do to protect his people and the nation, instead of simply enjoying the fame of his privileged post. In a 2025 American film, 'Sniper: The Last Stand,' a military commander says, 'A leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. Leadership is an action, not a position.' Indeed, the future of Korea depends on our new president's superb leadership.
Korea Herald
20 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Trump says Iran deal would not allow 'any' uranium enrichment
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Monday ruled out allowing Iran to enrich uranium under any nuclear deal between the foes — as Tehran defended what it said was its "peaceful" pursuit of fuel for power generation. Uranium enrichment has remained a key point of contention in five rounds of talks since April to ink a new accord to replace the deal with major powers that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. "Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!" Trump said on his Truth Social network after the Axios news outlet said Washington's offer would let Tehran enrich some of the nuclear fuel. Republican Trump also blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the impasse, saying the Democrat "should have stopped Iran a long time ago from 'enriching.'" Axios said the latest proposal that Washington had sent Tehran on Saturday would allow limited low-level uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, for an amount of time that has yet to be determined. Iran has insisted that Iran has "nothing to hide" on its nuclear program. Speaking in Cairo, where he met the UN nuclear watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, "If the goal is to deprive Iran of its peaceful activities, then certainly no agreement will be reached." The remarks came after Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday called for more transparency from Iran following a leaked report that showed Tehran had stepped up uranium enrichment. The IAEA report showed that Iran has ramped up production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent — close to the roughly 90 percent level needed for atomic weapons. "There is a need for more transparency — this is very, very clear — in Iran, and nothing will bring us to this confidence (besides) full explanations of a number of activities," Grossi said ahead of meeting Araghchi. Grossi added that some of the report's findings "may be uncomfortable for some, and we are ... used to being criticized." Iran has rejected the report, warning it would retaliate if European powers that have threatened to reimpose nuclear sanctions "exploit" it. "Some countries are trying to abuse this agency to pave the way for escalation with Iran. I hope that this agency does not fall into this trap," Araghchi said of the IAEA. Iran meanwhile pushed for the United States to drop sanctions that have crippled its economy as a condition for a nuclear agreement with Trump's administration. Araghchi said Saturday that he had received "elements" of the US proposal for a nuclear deal following the five rounds of talks, mediated by Oman. Both Araghchi and Grossi met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who praised the US-Iran talks and called for "de-escalation in order to prevent a slide into a full-fledged regional war." On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told a news conference: "We want to guarantee that the sanctions are effectively lifted." "So far, the American side has not wanted to clarify this issue," he said. The US envoy in the nuclear talks said last month that Trump's administration would oppose any Iranian enrichment. "An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That's our red line. No enrichment," Steve Witkoff told Breitbart News. Following a phone call with Witkoff the day before about the ongoing nuclear talks, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged a peaceful solution and a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East, saying in Monday's press conference that "the region is already experiencing enough problems and crises." He warned that military confrontation would create "a state of chaos from which no one will be spared." Iran has vowed to keep enriching uranium "with or without a deal" on its nuclear program. The United States has sent Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal that the White House called "acceptable" and in Tehran's "best interest" to accept, US media reported Saturday. The New York Times, citing officials familiar with the diplomatic exchanges, said the proposal calls on Iran to stop all enrichment and suggests creating a regional grouping to produce nuclear power.
