Tariff gap with Japan further threatens Korea’s US car sales

Korean carmakers are now exposed to higher risks of losing price competitiveness in the United States as their Japanese counterparts begin gaining an edge with a reduced tariff rate of 15 percent there. Starting Tuesday, Japanese vehicles exported to the U.S. face the lowered tariff instead of the earlier rate of 27.5 percent, following the completion of their bilateral trade agreement. This is casting a gloomy outlook for Korea’s major carmakers as they are still subject to a 25 percent tariff in the U.S., even after Korea and the U.S. reached a broad deal to reduce it down to 15 percent. It remains unclear when the reduced tariff rate will take effect, as both countries are still fine-tuning the details of their agreement before it is signed. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, who arrived in Washington on Monday (local time) to meet his counterparts for the trade talks, hinted that Korea will not rush discussions for the sake of reaching a deal, saying the "devil's in the details." As for Japan's lowered auto tariff, he said, "We are making efforts to ensure the auto tariff will be reduced tWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times