Federal Register publishes retroactive reduction of U.S. tariffs on Korean auto exports

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Published: 04 Dec. 2025, 09:45

Export vehicles are parked at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi on Dec. 1. [YONHAP]

A retroactive reduction of U.S. tariffs on Korean auto exports to 15 percent was published in the U.S. Federal Register on Wednesday as a prepublication notice. The final publication is scheduled for Thursday.

The reduced tariff applies retroactively to vehicles and auto parts imported for consumer use or withdrawn from bonded warehouses for consumer purposes as of 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 1.

This retroactive measure follows the Korean Democratic Party’s submission of a special bill on Nov. 26 to the National Assembly to manage strategic investment with the United States.

According to the memorandum of understanding on strategic investment signed by Seoul and Washington on Nov. 14, both sides agreed to retroactively apply the tariff reduction to the first day of the month in which relevant legislation is submitted to Korea’s National Assembly, which in this case would be Nov. 1.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]