Smith, Miller Ask Trump Administration to Address Digital Trade Barriers with South Korea
Washington, DC — Yesterday Representatives Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Carol Miller (R-WV) led 41 of their colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. The letter commends the Trump administration for its efforts in trade negotiations and urges it to address remaining barriers imposed by the South Korean government unfairly targeting American service providers and innovators in digital industries.
In the letter, the members wrote:
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As broader negotiations with Korea continue, we urge the administration to address remaining barriers Korea imposes on U.S. companies. Doing so could further level the playing field for American exporters, strengthen supply chains, and support continued bilateral investments, to the benefit of American industry, consumers, and workers.
One barrier that we urge you to address in any negotiations is proposed legislation advanced by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and embraced by the new Lee Jae-myung government which disproportionately targets U.S. digital companies for heightened regulatory requirements. The legislation mirrors the European Union’s blatantly discriminatory Digital Markets Act and would impose disparate legal and enforcement standards designed to undermine innovative business models and disadvantage successful American companies.
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Additionally, Korea has long used competition law to advance protectionist aims and promote discriminatory policy outcomes. In recent years, the KFTC has been the primary mechanism to accomplish these ends. In some cases, this has led to targeting U.S. companies with dawn office raids, hyper-aggressive enforcement measures, and threats of criminal prosecution for common industry practices that are not considered criminal in any other country. Such excessive and arbitrary competition law enforcement not only leads to unjustified investigations and unwarranted penalties but also greatly constrains U.S. business operations in the Korean market.
Read the full letter here.
Representatives who joined Smith and Miller in sending the letter include: Reps. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Mike Bost (R-IL), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), Mike Carey (R-OH), Ben Cline (R-VA), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Ron Estes (R-KS), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Vince Fong (R-CA), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Young Kim (R-CA), David Kustoff (R-TN), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Rich McCormick (R-GA), John McGuire (R-VA), Mark Messmer (R-IN), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Max Miller (R-OH), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Riley Moore (R-WV), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Maria Salazar (R-FL), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Greg Steube (R-FL), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), David Valadao (R-CA), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Rob Wittman (R-VA), and Rudy Yakym (R-IN).
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