The ruling party in South Korea presented this Wednesday, the 26th, a bill to support the commitment of South Korean investment in the United States in exchange for the reduction of North American tariffs.
The bill provides for the creation of a special fund to finance the promised investment of 350 billion dollars (around 302 billion euros) to the United States, in exchange for the reduction of Washington’s customs tariffs on vehicles and vehicle parts, among others, from 25% to 15%.
Of the total amount, 150 billion dollars (129.5 billion euros) will be allocated to the North American naval sector, while the remaining 200 billion dollars (172.7 billion euros) will be invested, in annual tranches of up to 20 billion dollars (17.3 billion euros), in various strategic sectors in the USA.
Although the legislative proposal will still be analyzed by the South Korean parliament, with the mere presentation of the document the tariff reduction will apply with retroactive effect to November 1st, in line with the bilateral memorandum of understanding signed in the middle of this month.
The South Korean Ministry of Commerce sent a letter to the United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, informing that the proposed law to implement the memorandum of understanding has already been presented to the South Korean National Assembly and requesting that the retroactive reduction be applied accordingly.