Blue House Responds to U.S. Steel Finished Goods Tariff Adjustment: "Prompt Industry Guidance and Impact Assessment"

The Blue House announced that it plans to assess the impact on related industries following the Trump administration's introduction of a new tariff system on derivative finished products with high steel, aluminum, or copper content, such as washing machines and refrigerators.

On the 29th, when President Jae Myung Lee went to the Blue House for work, the Blue House era officially began again after 3 years and 7 months, and a phoenix flag was raised at the Blue House in Seoul. 2025.12.29 Photo by Yongjun Cho

A Blue House official stated on the 3rd, "The government is closely monitoring related developments and will promptly inform the relevant industries and assess the impact."

The Blue House intends to strengthen communication with industries to prevent Korean exporters to the United States from experiencing confusion due to changes in the new tariff system, and to accelerate its analysis of the impact. In particular, as there are concerns that the U.S. tariff measures, combined with rising international oil prices caused by the Iran war, could increase global inflation and supply chain uncertainties, the government is expected to review the ripple effects by product category and adjust its response accordingly.

On the 2nd (local time), the Trump administration signed a proclamation adjusting tariffs on metal derivative products. The core of this measure is a 25% tariff, based on product price, applied to certain derivative goods with high steel, aluminum, or copper content. In contrast, products with low metal content are either excluded from tariffs or subject to lower rates. The existing 50% tariff on raw steel, aluminum, and copper items remains unchanged. The new system will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on the 6th (U.S. Eastern Time).

As a result, items with a high metal content, such as home appliances like washing machines and refrigerators, are likely to fall directly under the scope of the new tariff system. In particular, since the U.S. side has announced plans to simplify the calculation by using the price of the finished product rather than calculating the metal content value for each item, as was previously done, this measure could affect Korean exporters of washing machines, refrigerators, and similar products.

On the same day, the Trump administration also issued a separate proclamation announcing a policy of high tariffs on patented pharmaceuticals not produced within the United States. However, the proclamation specified that, under a separate trade agreement, Korean-made patented pharmaceuticals would be subject to a 15% tariff rate.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.