Last week, top executives from U.S. Chamber’s U.S.-Korea Business Council (USKBC) visited Seoul, South Korea, to advance discussions with the government on policy reforms to unlock trade and growth. Charles Freeman, the Chamber’s Senior Vice President for Asia, and Esperanza Jelalian, Executive Director of the Council, met with senior officials at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR), Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korean National Assembly, and the U.S. Embassy.
The team pressed Korean officials to resolve discriminatory trade barriers that have long hindered American businesses competing in the Korean market. The visit coincided with ongoing government-to-government talks addressing an array of trade and investment priorities—including non-tariff barriers the Chamber has identified.
Those bilateral talks resulted in more tangible commitments under the U.S.-Korea Strategic Trade and Investment Deal as detailed in a November 13 Joint Fact Sheet that builds on the October 29 meeting of President Trump and Korean President Lee Jae Myung. Of particular importance to American companies, the deal includes long-sought commitments from the Korean government to facilitate cross-border digital transfers of location, reinsurance, and personal data; assure due process in competition investigations; and ensure its laws and policies concerning digital services do not discriminate against or impose unnecessary barriers on U.S. companies.
If Korea follows through on these commitments, the upside for U.S. companies is significant. The Chamber has long urged the Korean government to refrain from passing online platform legislation targeting a small set of mostly American companies with obligations that don’t apply to their competitors. Similarly, USKBC has voiced concerns regarding implementation of network usage fees that would harm the competitiveness of U.S. content providers and pushed back on regulatory barriers that require data localization for mapping and reinsurance data in Korea.
The Joint Fact Sheet offers the necessary roadmap for these concerns to be addressed. As with other recent bilateral trade deals, U.S. negotiators should be commended for securing commitments that can help level the playing field for American companies competing overseas.
About the author
