Korean Government Urges Reconsideration of U.S. Forced Labor Tariff, Citing Insufficient Grounds, in Opinion Submitted to USTR

"U.S. Measures Are Inappropriate... South Korea Should Receive Favorable Treatment If Tariffs Are Imposed"


KITA Also Requests 'Reconsideration of Additional Tariffs' in Official Statement

The South Korean government has submitted a written opinion stating that the United States’ plan to impose a 12.5% tariff on the grounds of forced labor imports lacks sufficient evidence and should be reconsidered.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) on July 8, the South Korean government submitted this written opinion to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

U.S. President Donald Trump. The White House

An official from the ministry explained, "We submitted the South Korean government's opinion to the USTR ahead of the U.S. deadline for submitting opinions on forced labor tariffs, which was July 6 (local time)." The official added, "We expressed that the USTR’s conclusion—that South Korea imports products made with forced labor and places a burden on U.S. trade—lacks factual basis and sufficient analysis, and should therefore be reconsidered."

On June 2, the USTR announced in its report, "Findings of the Section 301 Investigation and Proposed Actions Relating to Trade in Goods Made with Forced Labor," that it plans to impose an additional tariff of either 10% or 12.5% on 60 economic regions, including South Korea.

In its opinion, the South Korean government refuted that the International Energy Agency (IEA) report cited by the USTR does not raise any concerns about South Korea in relation to imports of polysilicon produced with forced labor. It also pointed out that the report’s appendix explicitly states that "South Korea is not a country that imports polysilicon produced with forced labor and exports processed products to the United States."

The opinion further stated, "South Korea is already implementing a range of policies to exclude products made with forced labor from the supply chain, including establishing a domestic legal framework and ratifying international obligations." It added, "In particular, South Korea is committed to fulfilling the promise, as stated in the joint statement of the Korea-U.S. summit, to cooperate in eradicating imports of products made with forced labor."

The government emphasized that if tariffs must be imposed, South Korea should be given preferential treatment. In the opinion, the government stated, "South Korea believes that the U.S. measures are excessive, should be reconsidered, and are neither appropriate nor necessary." It continued, "Nevertheless, if the United States still deems tariff imposition necessary, we would like to emphasize that South Korea should receive more favorable treatment than initially proposed."

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) also submitted an opinion signed by Chairman Yoon Jin-sik, requesting that "the USTR reconsider the proposed additional 12.5% tariff on Korean products." KITA stated, "The implementation of the forced labor tariff on Korean products should be postponed, and both countries should discuss options for cooperation." It added, "If implementation is unavoidable, we request that only the 10% tariff be applied, rather than 12.5%."

Previously, in November of last year, South Korea concluded negotiations to lower the mutual tariff rate with the United States from 25% to 15% and to invest 350 billion dollars in the U.S. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate reciprocal tariffs, a ‘global tariff’ of 10% has been applied on a temporary basis.

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