The Seoul-Washington FTA committees from both sides will meet to discuss the amended U.S. trade act, which the U.S. is using to impose higher tariffs on South Korean imports.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the meeting in Seoul will convene for two days from Tuesday to review of the implementation of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement(KORUS FTA).
The ministry said “adverse facts available(AFA)” will be at the forefront of discussions. AFA is stipulated in section 776(b) of the U.S. Trade Preferences Extension Act that was amended in June of last year. It stipulates that the United States may calculate and levy higher antidumping margins using adverse facts if foreign exporters to the United States accused of dumping charges are considered to have failed to faithfully present relevant data.
Since the amendment, the United States applied the AFA section in 108 trade remedy cases including nine on South Korea and slapped tariffs as high as 500 percent on cold rolled steel from China in June.
The ministry said discussions will also touch upon the practices, laws and institutions regarding the trade deal that have been revised since February 2013.