43 Republican House Members Send Letter to Trump Trade Team
"Korea's Platform Law Imposes Excessive Regulations on U.S. Digital Companies"
Key Negotiation Issue... Domestic Legislation Expected to Face Setbacks
In trade negotiations between South Korea and the United States, the online platform law being promoted by the South Korean government has emerged as a key issue. Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have argued that the bill constitutes excessive regulation targeting American technology companies and have urged the Donald Trump administration to address the matter. As U.S. pressure intensifies, it is expected that discussions on the domestic platform law legislation will inevitably face obstacles going forward.
According to the U.S. Congress on July 2 (local time), 43 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter dated July 1, urging the Trump administration to make the strengthening of regulations targeting American digital companies a major issue in trade negotiations with South Korea.
The five-page letter was delivered to Jaimeon Greer, United States Trade Representative (USTR), Scott Besant, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The letter was drafted by Representative Adrian Smith (Republican, Nebraska), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Trade, and Representative Carol Miller (Republican, West Virginia), with 41 other Republican lawmakers joining as co-signers.
According to the letter, the lawmakers criticized the platform law being promoted by the Lee Jaemyung administration, arguing that it directly targets American companies through excessive regulation. The bill was first initiated by the Fair Trade Commission during the Moon Jaein administration, and related discussions and actions have continued under the Yoon Sukyeol administration. President Lee Jaemyung included the law as a campaign pledge during his presidential run.
In the letter, the lawmakers stated, "One of the barriers we urge to be addressed is the bill proposed by the Korea Fair Trade Commission and adopted by the new Lee Jaemyung administration," adding, "This bill excessively targets American digital companies through strengthened regulatory requirements." They further noted, "The bill is similar to the European Union’s discriminatory Digital Markets Act (DMA) and could weaken innovative business models and disadvantage successful American companies."
In particular, the lawmakers criticized the platform law for excluding Chinese companies from regulation while tightening restrictions only on American firms. Previously, the USTR had also pointed out in its annual National Trade Estimate Report (NTE) released at the end of March that the bill would regulate many American technology companies and only a few companies within South Korea.
The lawmakers stated, "The bill excludes major Chinese digital companies such as ByteDance, Alibaba, and Temu from regulation," arguing, "This will ultimately serve the interests of the Chinese Communist Party."
They also pointed out that the Fair Trade Commission, while investigating American companies, has employed dawn raids and excessive enforcement measures, and has even warned of criminal charges for standard industry practices, thereby undermining the business activities of American firms in South Korea.
The lawmakers emphasized, "We look forward to cooperating with the U.S. administration to address South Korea’s platform law and the excessive regulations of the Fair Trade Commission."
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported at the end of last month that digital trade issues, including the platform law, were key agenda items at the high-level trade talks between South Korea and the United States held in Washington, D.C. Currently, the United States regards the legislative trends concerning the platform law, the proposed network usage fee for foreign content providers, and the South Korean government’s restrictions on the use of foreign cloud service providers as digital trade barriers. The issue of allowing the export of high-precision mapping data was also reportedly discussed at the negotiating table.
The WSJ stated, "The regulatory proposal for American e-commerce companies operating in South Korea has drawn strong opposition from Representative Greer as well as major firms such as Google and Coupang," adding, "At the high-level talks held in Washington, D.C. at the end of June, the United States raised digital trade issues. The negotiations have become more complicated, and an agreement is not imminent."
With both the Trump administration and Congress raising concerns about the platform law in trade negotiations with South Korea, it appears that domestic legislative discussions will inevitably face setbacks. President Donald Trump has consistently criticized foreign government regulation of large American technology companies. Previously, Canada also sought to introduce a digital tax targeting both domestic and foreign technology firms, but ultimately withdrew the plan after President Trump objected and suspended trade negotiations.
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