Anchor: President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. trade representative has warned of strong countermeasures against any efforts by South Korea and other countries to adopt regulations that affect American online platform operators. Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer maintained a tough stance on Thursday during a Senate confirmation hearing, when Sen. Mike Crapo asked if he agreed on the need to respond to measures from South Korea and the European Union(EU) that could negatively affect U.S. tech firms.

The senator accused South Korea and the EU of imposing special requirements or taxes against U.S. tech firms, while exempting their own domestic companies and even Chinese firms.

In response, Greer said such measures will not be tolerated.

Greer said the United States is very competitive in the area of online trade and he believes the country will respond to moves of that kind, adding that a domestic conversation is being held on how to regulate digital trade and technology companies.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which represents the U.S. business sector, has consistently and publicly opposed South Korea’s initiatives to pass legislation to curb the dominance of large online platform businesses.

The trade agency has maintained that South Korea’s proposed Online Platform Fairness Act will impose regulations only on U.S. tech giants such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Meta, while leaving Chinese firms untouched. 

Greer’s remarks are an indication that the U.S. may slap retaliatory tariffs against countries if it deems them to have discriminated against U.S. companies.

Meanwhile, Greer cited semiconductors as the top item whose manufacturing infrastructure should be restored within the U.S., as he stressed that America must be ahead of the game in technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.