정인교 통상교섭본부장, 미국 무역대표부에게 관세 면제 요청

[홀랜]

Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo (left), poses for a photo with Jamieson Greer, acting US Trade Representative, ahead of their meeting on bilateral trade issues, including "reciprocal tariffs," at the USTR office in Washington, D.C., Friday, local time. (MOTIE)

Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo said Friday that he has called for the Trump administration to grant South Korea tariff exemptions and ensure the Asian ally will be treated in a "non-discriminatory" way.

Cheong met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington earlier in the day, as President Donald Trump plans to roll out "reciprocal tariffs" on April 2, which will be pegged to US trading partners' duties on American goods, non-tariff barriers and other elements, including exchange rate policies.

"I have requested tariff exemptions for South Korea, or at least non-discriminatory treatment (to Korea) compared with major countries," Cheong said during a meeting with Korean correspondents in Washington.

Cheong also said he highlighted that reciprocal tariffs on South Korea should not be based on Trump's recent remark in a congressional address claiming that Korea's average tariff is four times higher than that of the US.

Seoul has countered Trump's claim by saying South Korea's average tariff rate on US products stands at less than 1 percent under a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).

South Korea's average tariff on its most-favored nations (MFNs) stands at around 13.4 percent -- compared with the US' 3.3 percent on its MFNs -- but that rate is not applicable to countries with free trade deals with Asia's fourth-largest economy.

"The US side was also aware that in accordance with the FTA, both countries' tariffs are near zero percent," he said.

"While sharing the understanding about the usefulness of the Korea-US FTA as a framework for comprehensive economic cooperation, (the two sides) agreed to explore a reasonable and mutually beneficial way through continued working-level consultations on tariff measures," Cheong said.

Moreover, the minister used his meeting with the USTR to underscore the need for exempting South Korean steel products from 25 percent tariffs that went into effect earlier this week.

"I explained that South Korean steel exports do not pose a threat to the security of the US industry, and that they are rather contributing to the supply chain stabilization and downstream industrial competitiveness through the supply of items whose production falls short in the US," he said. (Yonhap)