Blue House: "Semiconductor Tariffs Will Follow Existing U.S.-Korea Agreement"... Cautions Against Overinterpreting Coupang Incident

"Minimizing the Impact on Korean Companies"
Thorough Analysis of Taiwan Agreement... Reports from Relevant Ministries and Communication with Industry Planned
Coupang Incident "Inappropriate to Interpret as a U.S.-Korea Diplomatic or Trade Issue"

The Blue House has announced that it will hold consultations to minimize the impact on Korean companies in accordance with the existing agreement between South Korea and the United States, which stipulates "no less favorable treatment" in relation to the growing trend of expanded U.S. tariffs on semiconductor products.

Yonhap News Agency

A Blue House official stated on the 18th, "When the U.S.-Korea Joint Fact Sheet was released last year, it was explicitly stated that 'conditions no less favorable than those for major countries' would be applied to Korea in the semiconductor sector." The official added that the government will closely analyze the recently concluded semiconductor agreement between the United States and Taiwan.

The government plans to continuously monitor how the existing U.S.-Korea agreements are being implemented. The Blue House will soon receive reports from relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and will also listen to the opinions of companies. The Blue House official explained, "We will continue to confirm specific details during consultations with the U.S. side and also communicate with the industry."

Previously, President Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 25% tariff on semiconductor chips imported into the United States and then re-exported to third countries. According to the White House, this primarily targets AI accelerator semiconductors such as Nvidia's 'H200.' The measure is based on the results of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which assessed the impact of semiconductor imports on U.S. national security.

The White House stated in a fact sheet, "President Trump may soon impose broader import tariffs to encourage domestic manufacturing of semiconductors and derivative products in the United States, and may introduce a corresponding tariff offset program."

President Trump also issued a separate proclamation directing negotiations with trading partners to adjust the structure of critical mineral imports to align with U.S. security interests. The proclamation also included the possibility of setting minimum import prices for certain critical minerals depending on the outcome of the negotiations. Yeo Han-koo, Trade Minister, stated at the airport upon returning from the United States the previous day, "The memory chips that our companies mainly export are excluded," and added, "The impact on Korea will be limited, but since we do not know when or in what form a second round of measures might emerge, it is not yet time to be complacent."

In addition, the Blue House stated that it is not appropriate to interpret Coupang's large-scale personal data breach as a diplomatic or trade issue between South Korea and the United States. The Blue House explained, "The Coupang incident is an unprecedented large-scale personal data breach, and an investigation is underway in accordance with the law," adding, "We plan to continue explaining our position to the U.S. side."