[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] On the 23rd, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Andeokgeun, the Chief Negotiator for Trade, held a bilateral meeting with Katherine Tai, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other issues.
This meeting was arranged to continuously seek practical solutions between the two sides regarding the U.S. IRA electric vehicle tax credit. The meeting came about two weeks after the Korea-U.S. trade ministerial meeting held on the 7th of this month in Washington D.C., USA.
The IRA discriminates between U.S.-made and foreign-made electric vehicles, making Korean electric vehicles ineligible for subsidies.
Chief Negotiator Andeokgeun emphasized, "The Korea-U.S. bilateral consultation channel to resolve the IRA issue has been promptly activated," adding, "Since the channel is now operational, both sides must work together to seek visible results through it as soon as possible."
Representative Tai stated that, based on mutual understanding of the difficult policy environment on both sides, efforts will be made through this consultation channel to find solutions to the issues.
Furthermore, both sides discussed trade issues between the two countries, including the network usage fee issue. The U.S. side has expressed concerns regarding the bill under discussion in the National Assembly that would impose network usage fees on foreign content providers.
Both parties also exchanged views on the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution procedures and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a new economic and trade platform led by the United States.
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