S. Korea, US seek to resolve outstanding issues over investment plan

Seoul, Aug 17 (IANS) South Korea’s industry minister has said that Seoul and Washington need to resolve outstanding issues over a $200 billion investment plan agreed upon as part of their bilateral tariff negotiations.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan made the remarks after arriving in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday (local time) as South Korea faces continued tariff pressure from the United States amid several unresolved bilateral trade issues, reports Yonhap news agency.

South Korea agreed with the United States last year to invest $350 billion in the U.S. as part of a trade deal that lowered the U.S. tariff rate on South Korean imports to 15 percent from 25 percent.

Of the $350 billion, $150 billion was allocated to cooperation in the shipbuilding sector, while the two countries have been negotiating details on how to implement the remaining $200 billion in investment.

“We had previously said we were considering announcing the projects around the end of August or early September, but as we approach the final stage, various specific issues are emerging at the working level,” Kim told reporters.

Asked whether the investment projects could be announced as early as the end of August, Kim said the two sides were negotiating the details with that target in mind.

“Various issues are emerging, more than we had anticipated,” he said. “Please understand that I came here with the goal of resolving them somehow so that we can meet the end-of-August target.”

Kim’s trip came two days after South Korea’s chief trade negotiator, Yeo Han-koo, was dismissed as Seoul faced mounting trade pressure from Washington.

Earlier, the ministry said the U.S. government is expected to announce the results of its investigation into alleged overproduction under Section 301 of the Trade Act by the end of this month.

Last month, Washington also announced a new set of tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners, ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent, following an investigation into forced labor under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Under the new scheme, South Korea is subject to a 12.5 percent tariff, along with Japan and Switzerland.

Separate from the forced labor-related investigation, the U.S. government is also investigating 16 economies, including South Korea, over alleged excess industrial capacity under the same trade law.

—IANS

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