South Korea and the EU are on the verge of concluding a free-trade agreement and are considering making a formal announcement at next month’s meeting of G20 leaders in London, an official said yesterday.
“I can say that we are very close” to reaching a deal, said Kim Hee-sang, the director of the free-trade agreement coordination division at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Kim said the two sides would try to wrap up the negotiations during two days of talks next week in Seoul.
Trade between South Korea and the EU reached US$98.4 billion last year. The EU is South Korea’s second-largest trading partner after China, while the EU is the largest foreign investor in South Korea.
The two sides have been negotiating to slash tariffs and reduce other barriers to commerce since May 2007. Automobile trade, which strongly favors South Korea, has been a contentious issue.
Kim also said that if negotiators finalize the agreement, the two sides are considering having their respective trade ministers “politically approve” the deal on the sidelines of the G20 summit, scheduled for April 2.
Kim said South Korea and the EU have tentatively agreed to eliminate or phase out tariffs on 96 percent of EU products and 99 percent of South Korean goods within three years.
He also said negotiators are working on an idea that would eliminate tariffs on small cars in five years and on mid-sized and large cars in three years.
South Koreans bought 32,756 vehicles from EU member states last year, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said, more than from Japan and the US and accounting for 53.1 percent of the imported vehicle market.
South Korea exported 408,934 vehicles to the 27-member EU last year, figures provided by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association showed.
South Korea and the EU are both eager to conclude FTAs. South Korea reached one with the US, its fourth-largest trading partner, in 2007, though legislative ratification of the deal has languished in political limbo in both countries.
Autos have been a focus of criticism for the deal in the US, which also has a large deficit in the sector with South Korea.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known
RSS