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National Assembly passes bill on $350B U.S. investment

Published: 12 Mar. 2026, 15:27 Updated: 12 Mar. 2026, 17:00

KIM MIN-YOUNG
[email protected]

The National Assembly holds a plenary session in Yeouido, western Seoul, on March 12 to vote on a special bill on Korea's $350 billion investment pledge to the United States. [YONHAP]

Korea’s National Assembly on Thursday passed a special bill on Korea's $350 billion investment pledge to the United States after rival parties reached a bipartisan agreement.

The bill will give Seoul the legal framework it has sought to carry out its pledge to Washington under a deal struck by President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump in return for more favorable tariff rates. The passage comes after weeks of wrangling between the ruling liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition conservative People Power Party over timing and the details of the bill.

The legislation had gained urgency after Trump warned in January that reciprocal tariffs on Korean goods could be raised back to 25 percent from 15 percent if Seoul fails to complete the legislative steps needed to implement the agreement.

Korea and the United States reached a trade deal on July 30, 2025, with a follow-up joint fact sheet in November, but Seoul has since had to scramble to convince U.S. officials that domestic legislative delays did not reflect a lack of commitment.

A special bipartisan committee fast-tracked the bill on Monday, sending it to the floor with unanimous approval of an alternative version. The bill was finally passed by the National Assembly by a vote of 226-8 with eight abstentions on Thursday.

The centerpiece of the bill is the creation of a Korea-U.S. strategic investment corporation to manage the massive U.S.-bound investment package. The bill calls for the establishment of a joint strategic investment fund under the new corporation. The fund aims to raise money through government contributions, entrusted assets and the issuance of strategic investment bonds. Earlier reports also indicated that it could finance projects through bond sales and loans from financial institutions.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at Verst Logistics in Hebron, Kentucky, on March 11. [AP/YONHAP]

In negotiations earlier this month, the two parties agreed to scale back the new entity from earlier proposals, setting its paid-in capital at 2 trillion won ($1.36 billion), fully financed by the government, and limiting its total workforce to 50 employees. The committee also added safeguards requiring the government to report to the relevant National Assembly standing committees before initiating consultations with the United States on candidate investment projects.

The domestic auto industry welcomed the bill’s passage, saying it would help remove uncertainty over possible tariff hikes for shipments to the United States, Korea’s largest export market for cars, and put Korean companies on a more equal footing with overseas rivals.

“We sincerely welcome the National Assembly’s passage of the special U.S. investment bill,” the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday. “We deeply appreciate the National Assembly for processing the bill through bipartisan cooperation to help the auto industry, a national strategic industry, overcome the crisis, and the government authorities for actively engaging in trade negotiations.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is set to begin a Section 301 investigation, a preliminary step toward imposing additional tariffs, into 16 economies including Korea, China and Japan. The plan was announced in a notice published in the Federal Register by the Office of the United States Trade Representative on Wednesday.

Section 301 of the Trade Act authorizes the U.S. government to respond, including through the imposition of tariffs, to foreign government actions, policies or practices that are considered unjustifiable, unreasonable or discriminatory and that restrict or burden U.S. trade.

Update, March 12: Added details about the bill, Section 301 investigation.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]