Formed in Response to the Launch of the Second Trump Administration
270 Inquiries on Discovering Alternative Markets
172 Consultations on Tariffs with the U.S., China, and Others
"Strengthening Support and Response to the Trade Environment"
KOTRA announced on the 23rd that since launching the 'Export Investment Emergency Response Team' last month, it has handled a total of 1,673 consultations and resolved 649 cases of corporate difficulties.
In line with the inauguration of the second Trump administration in the United States, KOTRA formed the 'Export Investment Emergency Response Team' on the 14th of last month to support export investment. The team provides support through four subcommittees focusing on field difficulties, project execution and budgeting, trade environment response, and supply chain monitoring.
According to KOTRA, since the new U.S. government took office, more than 270 inquiries related to discovering alternative markets such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and India have been received. Consultations regarding tariffs related to major countries like the U.S. and China reached 172 cases, marking an 89% increase compared to the same period last year. As small and medium-sized enterprises seek to relocate production bases to other countries following U.S. tariff policy directions, investment entry consultations increased by 30% compared to last year. Consultations from companies wishing to return to Korea also rose to 12 cases, up by 8 from last year.
Accordingly, KOTRA established the 'Tariff Response 119' hotline and on the 5th set up help desks at 20 overseas trade centers to support companies entering North America?including Mexico and Canada?as well as China and Southeast Asia.
Consultations with foreign-invested companies were also recorded at 368 cases. Since the inauguration of the new U.S. government, KOTRA has been operating the 'U.S. New Government Trade Issues Task Force' to quickly grasp U.S. trade measures such as tariffs and promptly disseminate information domestically. In this regard, more than 50 trade reports have been published this year. KOTRA plans to hold a 'Sector-specific U.S. Tariff Response Relay Briefing' next month and a 'Global New Trade Forum' in April, among other events.
Kang Kyung-sung, President of KOTRA, stated, "With the global economic slowdown and strengthening protectionist trends, trade conditions have become challenging, making export uncertainties very high this year. We will strengthen support to maintain export momentum in the first half of the year and respond to the trade environment."
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