U.S. Reaffirms Commitment to Korea-U.S. Tariff Deal Amid New Section 301 Duties

According to Yonhap, South Korea's government said the United States reaffirmed its commitment to uphold the existing Seoul-Washington tariff agreement after announcing new Section 301 tariffs on trading partners. South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said it asked Washington to comply with the Korea-U.S. trade deal reached last year, which set reciprocal tariffs on South Korean goods at 15%, and said the U.S. side also confirmed the existing agreement must be maintained.

Washington overnight announced new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 trade partners under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, after temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expired Friday following a Supreme Court decision in February that struck down the Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs. South Korea was assigned a 12.5% rate, alongside Japan and Switzerland. The ministry said the move should reduce uncertainty around U.S. tariff policy, and said Korean officials including Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told U.S. counterparts ahead of the announcement that Section 301 tariffs must not exceed 15% under the bilateral deal. South Korea exported $122.9 billion to the United States and imported $73.4 billion last year, making the U.S. its second-largest trading partner. Separate from the forced-labor probe, the U.S. is also investigating 16 economies, including South Korea, over alleged excess industrial capacity under the same trade law.