Photo : YONHAP News
President Lee Jae Myung has asked the European Union(EU) to provide “favorable consideration” for South Korea as the 27-member bloc is set to nearly halve the quota for tariff-free steel imports and double the tariff rate for excess volume.
At a press briefing in Rome on Wednesday, Director of National Policy Kim Yong-beom said the president made the request as a strategic and free trade agreement partner during summit talks with EU leaders in Brussels the previous day.
Before departing for his state visit to Italy, Lee met with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the Belgian capital.
Effective July 1, the EU is expected to drastically reduce the tariff-rate quota for steel imports from 35 million tons to 18-point-three million tons a year, and to raise duties for excess volume from 25 percent to 50 percent.
South Korea is in negotiations with the EU to secure as high a quota as possible, and the administration’s policy chief said the two sides have made significant progress in the talks.