US-Korea tariff negotiations concluded - Highly praised by business groups, but also criticized for ”losing the benefits of the FTA”

The South Korean government has recently reached an agreement on tariff negotiations with the United States, which has been a major concern for the government. The United States will lower the reciprocal tariff rate on South Korea to 15%, the same as Japan and the European Union (EU).
The new tariff measures will be implemented from the 7th of this month, just after midnight on the same day in the US Eastern Time (just after 1:00 pm Japan time).
On the 31st of last month, President Lee Jae-myung expressed his relief by posting on social media that he had "surmounted a major obstacle." Lee is currently in the process of holding his first summit meeting with President Trump in the United States on the 12th of this month.
The talks are expected to discuss South Korean investment, which was agreed upon in tariff negotiations with the United States, as well as measures to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The Korean economy is highly dependent on exports, so they need to hurry up with negotiations to avoid putting themselves at a disadvantage.
The tariff rate was the same as that of Japan and the EU, which had agreed with the US before South Korea, and was reduced from the 25% that Trump had initially planned to apply. The South Korean presidential office held a press conference on the 31st of last month.
After announcing that the negotiations had concluded, he said, "Tariffs on automobiles, a major export item, will also be reduced to 15%."
The Minister of Strategy and Finance (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) returned to Korea on the 1st of this month and reflected that the negotiations were like a war. Six economic organizations in South Korea expressed their welcome after the negotiations were concluded.
The Korea Employers' Federation, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea Business Association, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises issued a joint commentary on the 31st of last month.
"We hope that this agreement will lead to a groundbreaking improvement in bilateral relations, including economic cooperation. This agreement will not only eliminate uncertainty in the export environment, but also enable Korean companies to become the world's leading
"It is of great significance that we have established a foundation in the US, a major market, that will enable us to compete on equal or better terms with major countries."
In addition, South Korean media outlet E-Daily stated, "The US-South Korea tariff negotiations can be evaluated as having gone well."
He added, "I hope that these negotiations will serve as the foundation for the United States and South Korea to build an economic alliance that goes beyond security."
Meanwhile, Ahn, who has announced his candidacy for the leadership election of the opposition People's Power Party,
On the 31st, Rep. Cheol-soo appeared on Channel A's YouTube radio program and called the conclusion of the US-Korea tariff negotiations a "disappointing negotiation."
He pointed out that the scale of trade is not even half that of Japan, and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the mutual tariff rate was agreed upon at 15%, the same as Japan's, and said, "If we had not impeached former Acting President Han Deok-soo, Japan would not have been able to
Han said that he would have been able to lower tariffs more than he had done in the past. Following the impeachment and suspension of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who declared emergency martial law in December last year,
However, Han was also impeached. The Constitutional Court later dismissed the impeachment charges against Han, and he returned to his role as acting president, but Ahn was forced to resign from his role as acting president.
When Acting President Kim took over as president, the ruling and opposition parties should have immediately begun tariff negotiations. I believe that if they had discussed the matter for a long time and thoroughly, we could have lowered tariffs by even a few percentage points compared to Japan.
However, the Democratic Party quickly impeached him." South Korea's public broadcaster KBS also said of the agreement, "It will be possible to take advantage of the benefits of the Korea-US FTA (Free Trade Agreement)."
"In the automobile sector, Japan and the EU originally imposed a 2.5% tariff, but with this agreement, the additional tariffs have been reduced from 25% to half, or 12%," KBS reported.
The tariff rate was lowered to 5%, and combined with the original 2.5%, the tariff rate became 15%. However, South Korea, which has an FTA with the United States, has had no tariffs until now, but with this measure,
"Under the Korea-US FTA, Korea was tariff-free in many areas, but this agreement effectively wiped out the benefits of the FTA," KBS said.
"Korea has secured price competitiveness in areas such as automobiles, petroleum products, and secondary batteries, and has been a driving force behind exports, but with this agreement, excluding shipbuilding, automobiles, semiconductors, and home appliances,
"Although the negotiations have been concluded, it is only a broad agreement. There are also differences in the perceptions of both the US and South Korea regarding the agreement, and it is unclear what will happen in the future.
Discussions are expected to be held on the details.