Korea vows continued consultation with US over USTR report on trade barriers

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo speaks at a meeting with business officials in Seoul, Wednesday, to discuss Korea's response to global economic issues. Yonhap

The government on Wednesday pledged continued efforts to stably manage trade relations with the United States by communicating on issues raised by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in its latest annual report on foreign trade barriers.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said it will soon hold a meeting of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) joint committee to discuss the implementation of the countries' agreement on non-tariff trade barrier issues made as part of their tariff deal finalized late last year.

The announcement came after the USTR released its 2026 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report, in which it listed what the U.S. calls "trade barriers" of its trading partners, including Korea.

The ministry said the USTR expanded its overall scope of assessment on foreign trade barriers in this year's report, newly incorporating sections on non-market policies and practices, as well as labor and environmental issues.

Last month, the USTR launched consecutive trade inquiries into Korea and other major economies to uncover what it calls "unfair" trade practices related to structural excess capacity and production, and the importation of goods produced with forced labor.

The USTR's move appeared to be aimed at restoring trade-related measures Washington had imposed on partners before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down U.S. President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs, Seoul officials said earlier.

The 2026 NTE report pointed out a series of issues related to Seoul's digital regulation efforts, sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, and others, which had mostly been raised in previous reports, according to officials here.

Notably, the report said Korea does not have a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced or compulsory labor, noting that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a "withhold release order" in 2025 against sea salt products produced by a Korean salt farm "based on information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labor."

Seoul delivered a written opinion on the latest USTR report in February and continued to hold consultations with the U.S. until its release, officials said.