South Korea says timing of US tariff cut on autos not decided

SEOUL - South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Aug 6 that Seoul needs to hold further discussions with Washington on the timing of the promised tariff cuts on the country’s car exports to the US from the current level of 25 per cent.

President Donald Trump said last week the US will charge a

15 per cent tariff on imports

from South Korea, including autos, as part of a deal that eases tensions with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally. The 15 per cent US tariffs on most items coming from South Korea are due to take effect starting from Aug 7.

South Korean carmakers such as Hyundai Motor and Kia want the tariff cut brought in swiftly to create a level playing field with Japanese and European rivals.

Separately, Japan’s top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said he would head to Washington this week to press Mr Trump to sign an executive order to bring the

cut to tariffs on Japanese auto imports

into effect.

In the technology sector, Mr Kim said the countries had agreed to continue talks on online platform legislation to make sure US tech companies were not unfairly treated compared with domestic firms.

“Although the digital issue was not included in the latest agreement, there are major concerns about it among the US government, Parliament and businesses,” he said at a parliamentary session.

The minister reiterated that there had been no agreement on the opening of the agriculture market, including beef, rice, fruit and other farm goods as part of the deal.

But he said the countries will increase cooperation in the quarantine process for fruit and vegetables, which has been cited by Washington as one of the non-tariff barriers that US farmers face.

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said at a separate parliamentary session that the US viewed the quarantine process for fruit and vegetables as too slow and asked Seoul to introduce a rational and scientific process. REUTERS