Seoul Officials: US Requests South Korea to Jointly Contain China

Reuters reported that a senior official from the Seoul Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Friday that the US has asked South Korea to jointly contain China in trade negotiations, as South Korea and the US discuss cooperation in shipbuilding.

Chang Sung-gil (translated as Zhang Chengji), head of South Korean trade policy, said that the US has asked South Korea to take joint measures to contain China in "other areas" as a "precondition" for bilateral shipbuilding cooperation. However, Zhang Chengji did not provide detailed information.

Since early this week, about 20 countries have received tariff letters from Trump, mainly Asian countries, with a tax rate of 25% on products from partners such as Japan or South Korea, while some Southeast Asian countries face a tax rate as high as 40%.

According to a report by Reuters on the 7th, trade negotiations between South Korea and its second-largest trading partner, the United States, so far have mainly focused on non-tariff barriers, as South Korea has already imposed nearly zero tariffs on US imports under a free trade agreement.

South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo (translated as Yeo Han-ku) said that the digital industry is one of the most important areas in the current US-South Korea tariff negotiations.

In letters sent to a series of countries (mainly Asian countries) since Monday, Trump warned: "Transferring goods to avoid higher tariffs will be subject to additional taxes."

Previously, the US signed a trade agreement with Vietnam, imposing high tariffs on products with false origin. However, this is a two-way process, according to Vietnamese people, "some Vietnamese also export restricted high-tech products to China."

Barat Harisasi, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "It's less about the issue with Vietnam and more about sending a message to all countries in the region: confusing product origins will lead to punishment."

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837394311914508/

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