Some relieving news for South Korean automakers....
Reports are coming out on how the U.S. plans to delay auto tariffs on imported cars by up to six months.... and that South Korea is one of the countries that will be exempt from the potential tariffs.
Ko Roon-hee reports.
The Trump administration has been reviewing tariffs of up to 25-percent on imported vehicles, like those from South Korea,...citing job losses and negative effects on the domestic auto industry.
President Trump was supposed to make a decision on this issue by May 18th.
And South Korean carmakers are breathing a sigh of relief, after Bloomberg reported that the U.S. not only plans to postpone the decision...but also exempt South Korea from any future tariffs.
Bloomberg cited a draft executive order and said South Korea, Canada and Mexico are exempt from the new levies.
The revised Seoul-Washington free trade agreement came into force in January..., and analysts say this might have settled the possible trade disputes in advance.
The South Korean government has been continuously expressing the nation's stance on auto tariffs to the U.S.
For instance, Seoul's trade minister Yoo Myung-hee met with U.S. officials this week in Washington,... calling for an exemption from the potential tariffs.
The situation is similar for Canada and Mexico, because the two countries renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA...and are preparing for a new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg added President Trump will give the European Union and Japan 180 days to agree to a deal that would 'limit or restrict' auto imports into the U.S.
Analysts say this decision will avoid blowing up Washington's trade relations with the EU and Japan amid an escalation of trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.