Yoon asks U.S. Trade Representative to address S. Korean firms' concerns over IRA, Chips Act

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol asked United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Thursday to make favorable considerations for South Korean businesses in implementing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Chips and Science Act, his spokesperson said.

Yoon's meeting with Tai came as the IRA excludes electric vehicles assembled outside of North America from tax incentives, while the Chips Act requires foreign chipmakers to make major concessions, such as submitting data on their cash flows and profitability, in exchange for receiving subsidies.

"Please make favorable considerations so that South Korean companies operating in the U.S. do not experience difficulties related to the IRA or the Chips Act," Yoon said during the meeting at his office, according to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

Yoon especially noted South Korean companies' concerns about having to provide "an excessive level of information" under the guardrails of the Chips Act announced last week, though he said he views positively a large part of the uncertainty surrounding the law being removed with the release of the guardrails.

Tai responded that the U.S. government takes the concerns of the South Korean government and businesses seriously, and that it hopes to build a resilient supply chain with allies, including Seoul.

Tai was in South Korea to attend a ministerial session of the Summit for Democracy.

hague@yna.co.kr
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