Ministry of Trade Industry and Resources

Korea and EU Hold 12th FTA Trade Committee Meeting

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun) and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič co-chaired the 12th Korea-EU FTA Trade Committee meeting on March 10, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium. Delegations from both sides attended the meeting, including the European Commission’s Deputy Director-General for Trade Maria Martin-Prat. At the meeting, the two sides discussed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, electric vehicle (EV) subsidies, market access, and trade and sustainable development (TSD). Korea requested the EU’s swift implementation of import approval procedures for Korean fresh beef and a review of France’s EV subsidy policy. It also raised  market access issues concerning the EU Battery Regulation, steel safeguard measures, the fluorinated greenhouse gas (F-gas) regulation, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The two sides agreed on the need to discuss supply chains and other emerging trade issues and decided to launch the Committee on Emerging Trade and Economic Issues under the Korea-EU FTA. The meeting also confirmed the conclusion of the Korea-EU Digital Trade Agreement (DTA), which will undergo legal scrubbing and other domestic procedures. date2025-03-11

ASEAN-ROK Think Tank Dialogue (AKTD) Officially Launched Korea-ASEAN Economic and Trade Cooperation Platform

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun) delegation, led by Kim Jong-chul, Director-General for Trade Cooperation, visited Jakarta, Indonesia from March 6 to March 7, 2025, to attend the kickoff meeting of the ASEAN-ROK Think Tank Dialogue on Economic and Trade Policy (AKTD) and the opening ceremony of the Korea-Southeast Asia Policy Cooperation Center. The visit was part of efforts to strengthen multilateral economic policy cooperation with ASEAN. The delegation also visited the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of Indonesia to discuss cooperation on major trade issues, including global oversupply, and review key bilateral economic cooperation issues. The AKTD kickoff meeting was held at Hotel Mulia in Jakarta on March 7, 2025. AKTD is a public-private economic policy research project jointly led by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). Korea officially proposed the initiative at the 25th ASEAN-ROK Summit held in Laos in October 2024. Through AKTD, think tanks from Korea and ASEAN will conduct joint research on regional economic and trade issues to help strengthen ASEAN countries’ policy-making capabilities and contribute to balanced economic development. At the kickoff meeting, participants discussed research topics, methodologies, and the implementation schedule. ASEAN think tanks attending the meeting sshared the view that AKTD could create synergies by combining Korea’s industrial policy experience with ASEAN’s growth potential. In his congratulatory remarks, Director-General Kim said, "I hope AKTD will establish itself as a leading policy platform for Korea-ASEAN economic cooperation through substantive activities and serve as a practical channel for supporting balanced economic development in ASEAN." Earlier that day, the opening ceremony of the Korea-Southeast Asia Policy Cooperation Center was held. Established by KIET to conduct ASEAN-focused policy research and support Korean companies operating in the region, the center will carry out country- and industry-specific policy research on ASEAN. It will also serve as a venue for public-private-academic policy dialogues involving Korean businesses in the region, ASEAN governments, and research institutions. Through this initiative, the center aims to provide policy recommendations to help reflect the practical needs of Korean businesses in ASEAN’s industrial policies and foster closer economic policy cooperation with ASEAN. In addition, the MOTIE delegation met with Irwan Sinaga, Director-General for Bilateral Cooperation at Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, to hold in-depth discussions on cooperation across trade and investment, supply chains, and high-tech industries. The two sides agreed to convene the Korea-Indonesia Economic Cooperation Committee, a high-level economic cooperation channel between MOTIE and the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, as soon as possible to comprehensively review bilateral economic cooperation issues, including challenges faced by businesses, and seek practical support measures. MOTIE will continue to support ASEAN-related economic policy cooperation activities led by private research institutions and think tanks, such as AKTD and the Korea-Southeast Asia Policy Cooperation Center. It will also work to further expand bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation with ASEAN—a key region in the Global South—by maintaining close government-to-government communication with Indonesia and other key partner countries date2025-03-07

MOTIE holds conference on promoting R&D of foreign-invested companies

Director-General for Cross-Border Investment Policy Peob-min Ryu at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea visited energy solutions company Danfoss Korea today in Seoul, where he held a conference with foreign-invested companies to discuss issues regarding participation in domestic technology development projects and to seek measures for boosting the R&D investment of advanced technology-holding foreign-invested companies.   date2025-03-06

MOTIR Expands R&D Support for Foreign-Invested Companies

Ryu Peob-min, Director-General for Cross-Border Investment Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun), visited energy solutions company Danfoss Korea in Seoul, on March 6, 2025. He met with foreign-invested companies to discuss issues regarding participation in domestic technology development projects and ways to expand R&D investment by foreign-invested companies with advanced technologies. MOTIE is currently pushing measures to catalyze R&D by foreign-invested companies by linking them with Korea’s industrial, academic, and research institutions. In 2024, the ministry rolled out a global industrial technology R&D project exclusively for foreign-invested firms . In 2025, the government increased the budget to KRW 3.5 billion (up KRW 2 billion from KRW 1.5 billion in 2024) and will announce new projects later this month to recruit companies wanting to participate. The government also expanded cash grants by 10 percent (up by 15 percent for noncapital regions) and raised the cash grant limit for R&D centers developing high-tech strategic technologies to 75 percent in 2025 (up from 40 percent in 2024). MOTIR will also step up activities under the Korea-Global Innovation Investment Alliance (“Alliance”), launched to encourage foreign-invested firms’ wider participation in the R&D ecosystem, to promote networking between foreign-invested companies and industrial, academic, and research institutions. date2025-03-06

Korea’s Average Tariff Rate on U.S. Imports is Close to 0%

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s March 4, 2025, address to a joint session of Congress, in which he said Korea’s average tariff rate is four times higher than the U.S. rate, multiple media outlets reported on the remark. Under the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which took effect in 2012, Korea and the U.S. have eliminated tariffs on most goods traded between them. As of 2024, Korea’s effective tariff rate for goods imported from the U.S. is approximately 0.79 percent. Korea’s most-favored nation (MFN) applied tariff rate is 13.4, approximately four times higher than the U.S. rate of 3.3 percent. However, the MFN rate is separate from the preferential tariff rates Korea applies to U.S. imports under the KORUS FTA. MFN tariff rates apply to imports from members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that do not have preferential trade agreements with Korea. date2025-03-05

Korea and Spain Expand Advanced R&D Cooperation for Technological Leadership

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun) and Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) held the second Korea-Spain Industrial Technology Cooperation Joint Committee meeting in Madrid, Spain, on March 5, 2025. Since 2015, the two countries have pursued bilateral technology cooperation through the Eureka Network, the world’s largest R&D platform, with 48 participating countries. In 2023, they expanded the scope and scale of bilateral cooperation by establishing a joint R&D program for medium to large-sized projects in line with their respective industrial strategies. The program has supported four bilateral joint R&D projects, including in mobility and renewable energy, with combined funding of KRW 25.6 billion. At the Joint Committee meeting, both sides shared the view that artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials, and semiconductors are core technologies used across all industries. The two sides selected AI and semiconductors as priority technology collaboration areas for 2025, and advanced materials and nanomaterials for 2026, with plans to fund an estimated ₩27 billion in joint R&D. It is anticipated that technological cooperation among industry, academia, and research institutes in Korea and Spain will create opportunities for both countries to swiftly apply innovative technologies in various sectors to further enhance their industrial competitiveness. Following the Joint Committee, the two sides plan to continue their bilateral technological exchanges through the Korea Eureka Day, scheduled for April in Germany this in 2025, and support promising joint projects. date2025-03-05

Minister Ahn Holds Talks with U.S. Officials in Washington D.C.

Minister Ahn Duk-geun of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) visited Washington D.C. from February 26 to 28 2025, where he met with U.S. government officials and lawmakers to discuss bilateral trade issues and measures to strengthen Korea–U.S. cooperation. Minister Ahn met with Senator Mark Kelly, co-sponsor of the Ships for America Act, to discuss steps to expand Korea-U.S. cooperation in shipbuilding. He also exchanged views on Korea’s response to bilateral trade issues with Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation; John Hamre, President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); and Adam Posen, President of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). Minister Ahn also requested their support in facilitating intergovernmental cooperation. Minister Ahn also met U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to discuss strengthening cooperation in strategic areas such as shipbuilding and advanced industries. During the meeting, he requested for Korea’s exclusion from U.S. tariff measures and conveyed the concerns of Korean businesses. The two sides agreed to establish a working-level consultation channels, one to discuss tariff measures and another to promoting cooperation in shipbuilding. Through these channels, the Korean government aims to continue consultations with relevant U.S. authorities to support the interests of Korean businesses. Minister Ahn also held separate talks with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on measures to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in energy and trade. date2025-03-05

Korea’s exports resume growth in February

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced on March 1 that Korea’s exports and imports for the month of February 2025 increased 1.0 percent and 0.2 percent year-on-year, respectively, to USD 52.6 billion and $48.3 billion. The trade balance stood at a surplus of $4.3 billion. By item, semiconductors (down 3.0 percent to $9.6 billion) suffered a downtick despite the solid performance of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips and DDR5s, as the fixed price of general-purpose memory chips like DDR4s and NAND flash plunged. Meanwhile, computers (solid-state drives) grew for the 14th consecutive month (up 28.5 percent to $0.8 billion) and wireless communication devices turned to an expansion (up 42.3 percent to $1.5 billion).  Automobile exports (up 17.8 percent to $6.1 billion) snapped their three-month losing streak, fueled by demand for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) (up 74.3 percent to $1.3 billion) and bio-health exports (up 16.1 percent to $1.4 billion) were driven by the steep climb achieved by biopharmaceuticals (up 45.5 percent to $0.6 billion). Exports to four out of Korea’s nine major destinations saw growth in February. To China (down 1.4 percent to $9.5 billion), robust demand for wireless communication devices and general machinery offset the slower exports of semiconductors. Exports to the U.S. inched up 1.0 percent to $9.9 billion. Exports to ASEAN hit $9.6 billion (up 12.6 percent), the second highest for the month of February, led by semiconductors and petroleum products. Exports to India (up 18.6 percent to $1.7 billion) recorded an all-time high for the month and those to the Middle East (up 19.6 percent to $1.7 billion) also broke their three-month downward streak.   date2025-03-04

Korea and Thailand hold 4th negotiating round for bilateral EPA

Korea’s Deputy Minister for FTA Negotiations Roh Keon-ki and Director General of the Department of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand Chotima Iemsawasdikul led their respective delegations in the fourth official negotiating round for the Korea-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on March 4 in Seoul. date2025-03-04

Minister Ahn meets U.S. Trade Representative

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on February 28 (local time) in Washington D.C. and conveyed Korea’s stance on U.S. trade measures, discussing measures for stronger bilateral cooperation. date2025-03-04