Tariff Bomb D-4.. Issues are China Containment-Agricultural Products-Online Platform Law

[Financial News] The reciprocal tariff implementation by the Donald Trump administration is just four days away. In the tight timeframe, the upcoming meeting of the finance and foreign ministers of South Korea and the United States on the 31st is expected to be a watershed moment in the negotiations. Lawmakers visiting the U.S. diagnosed the intensity of participation in China containment, market opening for agricultural products, and the Online Platform Law as indicators of negotiation success or failure.
According to the political circle on the 27th, a delegation of 13 lawmakers from the Korea-U.S. Parliamentary Alliance visited the U.S. from the 20th to the 26th, engaging with the Trump administration and the U.S. Congress during the urgent Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations. As a result, they reported three key issues that would determine the direction of the negotiations.
First is the issue of clarifying our country's position amidst the U.S.-China strategic competition. According to a lawmaker who participated in the delegation, the U.S. State Department, Department of Commerce, and members of Congress repeatedly asked about South Korea's stance on China.
The delegation reportedly did not provide a definitive answer on whether to actively participate in China containment, emphasizing the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance. This is because South Korea's economic dependence on China is as high as that of the U.S., making it a difficult issue to accept easily. Therefore, lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea who participated in the delegation avoided mentioning China, while opposition lawmakers urged the government to convey a clear stance to the U.S.
The government is trying to resolve the China containment issue by actively engaging in the shipbuilding cooperation requested by the U.S. The construction of new naval vessels and the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of aging vessels are headaches for the Trump administration, and South Korea is almost the only ally capable of solving them.
Another issue pointed out by the delegation is the expansion of imports of U.S. agricultural products and the Online Platform Law. In terms of agricultural products, the U.S. is demanding the relaxation of the 30-month age limit on U.S. beef and the expansion of imports of rice, apples, and genetically modified organisms (LMOs). Even Japan, sensitive to rice issues, eventually opened its market, so some demands, such as slightly increasing the U.S. quota under the TRQ (tariff-rate quota), are expected to be accepted.
The Online Platform Law has faced strong opposition from U.S. big tech companies, calling it excessive regulation, prompting the U.S. government and Congress to take action. Recently, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Korea Fair Trade Commission asking for an explanation of the impact of the Online Platform Law on U.S. companies. In response, the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee has temporarily halted the review of the Online Platform Law.
The Democratic Party plans to reflect the tariff negotiation agreements in the review of the Online Platform Law. To this end, they are considering delaying the review of the monopoly regulation part of large platform companies, which the U.S. has raised issues with, and first promoting the fairness part to resolve the difficulties of small businesses.
Whether the government can break through these three issues and reach a dramatic agreement is expected to be gauged by the results of the South Korea-U.S. finance and foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for the 31st, the day before the reciprocal tariff implementation. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol will enter face-to-face negotiations with Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will meet with Secretary of State Mark Rubio. The previously postponed 2+2 trade consultation between the finance and trade ministers may also resume. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan and Trade Negotiation Headquarters Chief Yeo Han-gu are currently in the U.S., meeting with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Representative Jamison Greer.




uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho, Seo Young-jun reporters