Acting President Han: "Immediate Visit to the US by Trade Negotiation Headquarters Chief... Focusing on US Negotiations"

Announcement of Emergency Support Measures for the Automotive Industry Next Week

Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated on the 3rd regarding the US's imposition of reciprocal tariffs, "We will immediately promote the visit of the Trade Negotiation Headquarters Chief to the US and pursue close US negotiations at all levels."

Acting President Han held the '3rd Emergency Economic Security Strategy TF' (Task Force) meeting at the Prime Minister's Residence in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and said, "In this crisis situation, the government will do its utmost in US negotiations to minimize the damage to companies," he said.

Acting President Han assessed that the US's tariff measures will act as a turning point that changes the international free trade order and the global supply chain structure, reshaping the world economic order. He also predicted that it could pose a significant burden on the export-driven domestic economy.

Regarding the 25% automotive tariff that took effect from today, Acting President Han said, "We will announce emergency support measures for the automotive industry by next week," and emphasized, "We will quickly prepare support measures for vulnerable sectors and industries, including small and medium-sized enterprises, in cooperation with relevant ministries."

Furthermore, Acting President Han said, "In addition to close US negotiations, transforming our industrial and economic structure to align with the future restructured trade order has become an important task," and added, "Taking the US tariff measures as an opportunity, we will fundamentally improve the constitution of our industry and drastically rationalize unreasonable systems and practices."

Acting President Han also requested bipartisan cooperation to overcome the US's imposition of reciprocal tariffs. He said, "Political cooperation is essential to alleviate the suffering of our companies, which are experiencing difficulties both internally and externally, such as tariff measures and sluggish domestic demand."

Reporter Lee Min-hyung, Hankyung.com meaning@hankyung.com