Different Vibe

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held the 29th annual U.S.-Korea Business Council Meeting in Washington D.C. on October 10 (local time) ,
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held the 29th annual U.S.-Korea Business Council Meeting in Washington D.C. on October 10 (local time) ,

 

The 29th annual U.S.-Korea Business Council Meeting took place in Washington D.C. on October 10 (local time). The atmosphere of the meeting was quite different from those of the previous ones with Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs, who is the representative of the U.S. side, absent along with U.S. government officials. Experts said that this had to do with the ongoing trade disputes between the two countries.

The participants of the meeting included the representative and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, FKI Chairman Huh Chang-soo, Poongsan Group Chairman Ryu Jin, Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-Young, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoo Myung-hwan, former Trade Minister Park Tae-ho, Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Myron Brilliant, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Mark Lippert, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy, Gale International Chairman Stanley Gale, Prudential Financial Vice President Desiree Green, and AMCHAM Chairman James Kim.

The FKI, which organized the meeting, tried to invite U.S. trade experts such as U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and USTR Representative Robert Lighthizer. However, the U.S. government balked, mentioning the difficulty of scheduling.

At the meeting, FKI Vice Chairman Kwon Tae-shin explained that the KORUS FTA, which took effect in 2012, allowed South Korean companies to increase their employment in the United States from 36,000 to 47,000 between 2011 and 2014 and is expected to allow South Korea’s cumulative direct investment in the United States to top US$100 billion this year. He also said that the South Korean government would respond more proactively than before to KORUS FTA renegotiations and trade conflicts in the steel and consumer electronics industries.

These days, the United States is putting more and more pressure on South Korea in the field of bilateral trade. The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) recently said that washing machines supplied by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics negatively affect American washing machine manufacturers, making safeguard initiation more imminent. Besides, the U.S. is setting up trade barriers in the form of anti-dumping duties and so on in the steel, textile and machinery industries. According to one of its recent preliminary determinations, oil country tubular goods imported from South Korea are subject to a tariff of up to 46%. As of the end of last month, the United States was imposing no less than 31 import restrictions on South Korean products.

 

 

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