Overview
- Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan traveled to the United States and arrived in Dallas on Sunday to resolve working-level disputes over the $200 billion tranche that remains from a $350 billion investment pledge.
- Seoul and Washington had aimed to announce initial projects by late August or early September but negotiators now say technical issues at the working level may push that timeline back.
- The investment package underpins a deal that cut U.S. tariffs on Korean goods to 15 percent from 25 percent last year and left $150 billion tied to shipbuilding while $200 billion must still be defined.
- The U.S. has already imposed new forced-labor tariffs of 10–12.5 percent and will issue findings from a separate Section 301 overcapacity probe by month-end, which could raise levies on some Korean products.
- Seoul says both governments agree tariffs should stay capped at 15 percent and denies direct U.S. threats, but the recent dismissal of chief negotiator Yeo Han-koo and last-minute talks in Washington underscore the political stakes for Korea’s exporters and investors.