The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), an interest group for largest companies in Korea, has made the last pitch beseeching congressional support to exempt South Korean finished car and auto parts makers from sweeping tariff barriers awaiting stamping from President Donald Trump.

Huh Chang-soo, chairman of FKI, has sent letters to around 50 leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence, vice president who also serves as president of the Senate, in hopes to win exclusion for Korean automakers and auto parts producers from the impending tariffs on auto-related imports invoked based on damages to U.S. security.

The U.S. Commerce Department investigated foreign-made cars and their potential threat to national security based on Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the latest tool for trade protectionism under the Trump administration. It submitted its findings on Sunday, and Trump has 90 days to decide on action.

The Trump administration already has used the same provision to impose tariffs on steel imports last year, but Korea was able to bargain its way out of a maximum 25 percent duty on foreign steel products through quota settlement.

Huh thanked the U.S. lawmakers’ efforts to help Korean steelmakers earn a waiver on the tariffs and also expressed his support to the Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act of 2019 (BCTAA).

To restrict possible presidential abuse of Section 232, U.S. House of Representatives and Senate early this month introduced the BCTAA that aims to reduce the president’s trade authority for unilaterally enacting new tariffs on national security grounds.

Proposed changes include giving the Congress a 60-day period to review any proposal on adjusting imports in the interest of national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act as well as transferring investigative authority from the Department of Commerce to the Department of Defense.

The Center for Automotive Research in latest report predicted Korea, Canada, and Mexico would most likely be exempted from tariff barriers on auto and auto parts.

By Han Ye-kyung and Cho Jeehyun

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