South Korean Government Urges USTR to Reconsider 'Forced Labor Tariffs' Due to Lack of Evidence

The South Korean government has submitted an opinion paper to the United States, arguing that the proposed tariffs on imports of products allegedly made with forced labor lack sufficient evidence and should be reconsidered.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on July 7 (local time), the South Korean government stated in its written submission that "the USTR's conclusion that South Korea imports products made with forced labor and burdens U.S. trade appears to lack factual basis and sufficient analysis."
In the document, the South Korean government explained that the International Energy Agency (IEA) report cited by the USTR does not raise any concerns regarding South Korea in relation to cases of importing polysilicon produced through forced labor.
It further noted that the appendix of the report explicitly states that South Korea is not a country that imports polysilicon produced via forced labor to process and export finished goods to the United States.
The opinion paper emphasized, "South Korea is already implementing multifaceted policies, such as establishing domestic legal frameworks and ratifying international obligations, to ensure the private sector excludes products made with forced labor from supply chains." It added, "In particular, South Korea is committed to fulfilling the promises made in the joint statement (from the South Korea-U.S. summit) to cooperate in eradicating the import of products made with forced labor."
The government further stated, "South Korea believes that the U.S. measures are excessive and should be reconsidered, as they are neither appropriate nor necessary. However, if the U.S. determines that imposing tariffs is nonetheless necessary, we would like to emphasize that South Korea should receive more favorable treatment than originally proposed."
It continued, "South Korea respectfully requests that the USTR fully consider these views, reflecting the strong bilateral relationship under the Strategic Trade and Investment Cooperation, and reach a final decision that is mutually beneficial to both countries."
The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) also previously submitted an opinion paper to the USTR, requesting that the U.S. "reconsider the 12.5% additional tariff on South Korean products," and asked for a suspension of the tariffs or, if suspension is not possible, a reduction of the additional tariff rate to 10%.
Early last month, the USTR announced plans to impose additional tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on 60 economies, including South Korea, claiming they have failed to adequately prevent the import of products made with forced labor.
The USTR's 'forced labor tariffs' are based on Section 301 of the Trade Act, which grants the executive branch the authority to respond to unfair practices and policies of foreign governments.
The U.S. administration under Donald Trump has been moving to replace reciprocal tariffs with those under Section 301 of the Trade Act following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February that invalidated the former.
(Photo: Screenshot of USTR website, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.