Seoul, May 26 (IANS) The United States asked South Korea to resolve various non-trade barrier issues in their latest round of working-level trade talks, a Seoul trade official said on Monday, as the latter is seeking to get a reduction or exemption of the Donald Trump administration’s tariffs.
In last week’s working-level consultations, Washington urged Seoul to handle non-trade barrier issues listed on the 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on Foreign Trade Barriers issued by the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) in March, the official familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity, without providing further details, reports Yonhap news agency.
The NTE report had touched on a wide range of Korea’s non-tariff measures, including its import ban on American beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, South Korea’s “offset” defence trade policy, emission-related regulations on imported cars and pricing policies for pharmaceuticals.
The two countries held their second round of “technical discussions” in Washington last week as agreed in a meeting between South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun and USTR Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers’ meeting held on South Korea’s southern island of Jeju earlier this month.
The discussions were centred around six areas — balanced trade, non-tariff measures, economic security, digital trade, the country of origin issue and commercial considerations, according to Seoul’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
South Korea has been seeking to gain a full exemption or reduction of the Trump administration’s 25 percent reciprocal tariffs for the country, as well as sectoral tariffs on steel, automobile and other imports, by crafting a package deal on tariff and economic cooperation issues by July 8 — when the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs will end.
Though details of Washington’s requests have not been disclosed, industry watchers say the U.S. may have raised issue with Seoul’s beef imports and high tariffs on imported rice.
“Among the list of requests from the U.S., there are some things that can be resolved by easing regulations, but there are also matters concerning market access, which require necessary procedures under the trade treaty procedure act,” another senior trade official said, asking not to be named.
Trump has referenced South Korea’s rice tariffs as an example of trade barriers by foreign countries in his speech announcing the country-by-country reciprocal tariffs in early April, claiming the country slaps duties of more than 500 percent on U.S. rice.
South Korea’s baseline tariff on rice imports stands at 513 percent, but the country actually implements only a 5 percent tariff on a yearly import quota of up to 132,304 tons of U.S. rice.
–IANS
na/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
