Gyeonggi Province dispatched a Trade Environment Investigation Team to the state of Georgia, USA, laying the groundwork to strengthen the cooperative system between the two regions.
On the 19th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it had sent a Trade Environment Investigation Team to Georgia from the 10th to the 15th to proactively respond to tariff waves following the inauguration of the second Trump administration, establishing a cooperative system with local institutions before returning home.
The investigation team, led by the head of Gyeonggi Province's International Trade Division and composed of experts from the Gyeonggi FTA Trade Promotion Center, Gyeonggi Institute of Economy and Science, Korea Automobile Industry Cooperative, and Automobile Parts Industry Promotion Foundation, was dispatched to proactively respond to the automobile tariff policies of the second Trump administration and to assist the automobile parts industry in entering the U.S. market.
The state of Georgia, visited by the investigation team, is a transportation and logistics hub in the southeastern United States, equipped with excellent infrastructure including the Port of Savannah, ranked fourth in total cargo volume in the U.S., making it an optimal region for automobile and automobile parts transportation.
In particular, it is a key hub for the automobile industry, with about 150 domestic companies having entered the market centered around Hyundai Motor Group's electric vehicle plant (HMGMA) and Kia Motors plant, which began early operations at the end of last year.
During the visit, the Trade Environment Investigation Team met with the head of KOTRA Atlanta Trade Center to discuss ways to expand the entry of companies into the southeastern U.S. They also met with Jesse Dillon, Chief Operating Officer of the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA), to discuss corporate support policies.
The team also met with Corinne Maasik, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Investment at the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), requesting interest and support for Gyeonggi Province's automobile parts companies.
They formed a consensus on establishing a working group to support local companies such as automobile parts manufacturers and on signing a friendly cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to activate future investment and exchanges, thereby laying the foundation for a cooperative relationship with the Georgia state government.
Additionally, they met with Sam Park, a Korean-American member of the Georgia House of Representatives, requesting active support to ensure stable cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and Georgia and to facilitate domestic companies' investment and activities in the U.S.
The Gyeonggi Province Trade and Environment Investigation Team is visiting the state of Georgia in the United States, discussing cooperation measures on current issues such as tariffs on automobiles with state government officials. Provided by Gyeonggi Province
Representative Sam Park is the first Asian American Democratic leader in Georgia's history and serves as the Democratic Caucus Whip in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Alongside this, the investigation team visited domestic finished vehicle and automobile parts companies operating locally, such as JunGeorgia, Hyundai Transys Powertrain, and Kia Georgia, to listen to their difficulties and discussed strategies to strengthen the global competitiveness of Korean automobile parts companies through a seminar on responding to U.S. trade policies.
Based on the results of this investigation, Gyeonggi Province plans to strengthen the role of the GBC (Gyeonggi Business Center) in Dallas, USA, scheduled to open in the first half of this year, and to firmly establish a Gyeonggi-style export breakwater. They will also review ways to reflect the difficulties of local companies in policies.
In June, Gyeonggi Province will dispatch local automobile parts companies to Georgia to conduct one-on-one incentive-related meetings with state government officials and provide one-on-one consulting with experts in fields such as taxation and accounting.
Gyeonggi Province also plans to consider dispatching trade environment investigation teams to other industries with large export volumes to the U.S., such as the semiconductor industry.
Park Geun-gyun, Director of Gyeonggi Province's International Cooperation Bureau, said, "The dispatch of this investigation team has become an important stepping stone to strengthen trade cooperation with Georgia through the automobile parts industry. We will continue to closely monitor trends in U.S. tariffs and other trade policies and do our best to minimize trade risks for our companies by preparing multifaceted trade and export strategies."
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