US does not consider easing tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from South Korea

Kathryn Tai, US Trade Representative (USTR), told the South Korean Commerce Minister yesterday that the US had focused on “ongoing talks” on access to steel and aluminum and that domestic industry concerns affect the Biden government’s approach, its office said.

South Korea is seeking a 25 percent tariff exemption imposed by the United States on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, following a quota agreement reached between Washington and the EU in October.

The Biden government has activated a framework of talks with Britain and Japan on the possibility of easing tariffs on metals.

In a statement issued after a meeting in Washington with South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Hang-koo, Tai gave no indication that the United States was ready to expand such negotiations.

She emphasized the challenges of overcapacity driven by non-market practices, but also the concerns of those interested in the US market, as the US focuses on existing discussions to develop a global framework that will tackle carbon emissions from the steel and aluminum trade.

The US-EU agreement aims to reduce trade in high-carbon steel and surplus production in China.

U.S. steelmakers have expressed concern about the possibility of the Biden government allowing a large consignment of foreign steel and aluminum to be imported into the country, as the industrial sector reportedly invests billions of dollars in new and cleaner production processes. years after the imposition of the national security duties “Section 232” imposed in March 2018.

At the meeting with the South Korean Minister, which took place as the Free Trade Agreement between the USA and Korea (KORUS) completes ten years from its implementation, Tai presented an update on the US plans, regarding a new Economic Framework for Region of India and the Pacific, as announced by its office.

The initiative of the new Biden government is aimed, in part, at limiting China’s growing economic influence in the region.

At an event later yesterday, the South Korean minister stressed that the framework should include increasing access to US markets.

“I think market access could be an important dimension of the reciprocity that countries in the region expect from the US leadership,” Geo told a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

He called for “a new trade order” in the Asia-Pacific region, which could set the rules for emerging sectors, but could also contribute to public health and climate change needs.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ