Overview
- Lawmakers approved the bill 226–8, creating a Korea–U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation with 2 trillion won in initial capital to manage the pledge.
- The framework allocates $200 billion to strategic sectors such as semiconductors, energy and advanced tech, and $150 billion to shipbuilding, with investments capped at $20 billion per year and subject to commercial feasibility and risk controls.
- The U.S. Trade Representative launched a Section 301 investigation into 16 economies, including South Korea, to examine “structural excess capacity,” a process that could enable new or higher tariffs without a preset ceiling.
- Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Seoul will consult closely with Washington, file its written views by April 15, and take part in public hearings beginning May 5 to protect the tariff balance secured in the bilateral deal.
- A Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic report said the alliance is under strain, citing last year’s detention of more than 300 Korean workers in Georgia and U.S. pressure over the bill, as legal changes after a Supreme Court ruling left a 10% global U.S. tariff in place pending further action.