acting president-US tariffs
Acting president calls for redoubling efforts to ease burden of U.S. tariffs
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- Acting President Han Duck-soo instructed the government Thursday to redouble efforts to ease the burden of U.S. tariffs after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause in the implementation of "reciprocal" tariffs on all countries except China.
Trump announced the pause on social media Wednesday (local time), hours after the steep levies, including 25 percent for South Korea, took effect, deepening a global trade war.
During the pause, a baseline 10 percent tariff will be in effect for all countries with the exception of China, whose duties Trump raised to 125 percent.
"We received somewhat comforting news this morning," Han said during a ministerial meeting, referring to the pause. "For the Republic of Korea, whose growth and development rely heavily on trade, we must redouble our efforts to rid ourselves of the burden of these tariffs by making progress in all negotiations over the next 90 days."
Han explained the basis for the 25 percent tariffs is a perception on the U.S. side that the two countries' products are not competing under equal conditions in terms of tariffs, taxes, non-tariff barriers and hygiene requirements.
"If these can be improved, it will be of great help to our people," he said, noting in particular the positive effects deregulation can have on both foreign and domestic businesses.
Han vowed to continue the government's push to remove regulations hampering business growth, including by lifting restrictions on foreign laborers' movement between regions.
He also called attention to a recent string of safety-related accidents, including last month's deadly wildfires, saying the government will carry out a special inspection of 22,000 accident-prone facilities over a two-month period starting April 14.
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