Overview
- South Korea will begin preliminary reviews of candidate U.S. projects, set a temporary control tower of economy ministers and convene an expert pre-review panel while the special law moves through domestic steps.
- The National Assembly created a bipartisan 16-member special committee with a 30-day mandate targeting passage of the U.S. investment bill by early March.
- Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said passing the bill would likely keep tariffs at 15 percent and noted continued dialogue with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, while no Federal Register notice on higher tariffs has appeared.
- Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said USTR Jamieson Greer warned tariffs could revert to 25 percent without progress on non-tariff issues, including digital platform rules and agricultural quarantine and certification.
- Security officials warned the tariff dispute is already slowing sensitive talks with the U.S. on civil nuclear rights, spent fuel reprocessing and potential nuclear-powered submarine cooperation.