Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, who is on a visit to the United States, will extend his trip to look into the potential impact on South Korean businesses of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proclamation Wednesday concerning the semiconductor industry.
Yeo, who was initially scheduled to return home Wednesday, told South Korean media outlets that he will stay another day to better understand the proclamation to levy a 25 percent tariff on AI chips that are imported into the U.S. and then reexported to other countries.
The minister said it would be premature to comment on Washington’s latest move, and that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources has begun analyzing the ramifications in cooperation with related industries.
In a fact sheet, the White House said Trump may impose “broader” tariffs on imports of semiconductors and their derivative products in a bid to encourage manufacturing in the U.S.
In a joint fact sheet with Seoul last year, Washington agreed to offer semiconductor tariff rates that are no less favorable than those that may be offered to other countries whose semiconductor trade volume with the U.S. is at least as large as South Korea’s.