Supply Chain Agreement ‘Exclusion of Workers’ Participation in Tariff Reduction’ Korea’s ‘Crosshairs’​

Supply Chain Agreement ‘Exclusion of Workers’ Participation in Tariff Reduction’ Korea’s ‘Crosshairs’

A new system in which workers’ representatives participate in international supply chain contracts through the “Labor Rights Advisory Committee” and “tariff authorization” is excluded has been concluded as the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
The Biden administration signed a supply chain adjustment agreement with 13 countries in the Indo-Pacific region on the 27th, and Korea became an IPEF member country under the Biden system, but in a report from the Detroit Ministers of Commerce meeting, Reuters said, 'Korea stood in the crosshairs of a fierce response between the United States and China. ' he said.
With the APEC Commerce Ministers Meeting held in Detroit, a shabby industrial city of the United States, the United States, through the commerce ministers of IPEF member countries without China, switched to a new strategy that day to involve workers' representatives in the government- and employer-led supply chain system.
In the intense confrontation between the Republican and Democratic parties over the Pacific economic strategy of the United States, the Republican Trump regime withdrew from the former Obama administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and then the Biden administration to restore the Pacific economy to IPEF, including India. Worker representatives participated in the expansion of the supply chain as a new strategy of
On the new supply chain agreement, the Biden administration is negotiating the other three pillars of the agreement, which will focus on stimulating trade and improving conditions for workers, expanding the use of clean energy, reforming the tax structure and combating corruption. The New York Times announced on the 27th that this continues.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raymondo told a press conference in Detroit, "The 'first-of-its-kind' agreement would create a committee for countries to coordinate supply chain activities and a 'crisis response network' to give IPEF countries early warning of potential supply disruptions. demanded,” Reuters reported.
“IPEF is not a traditional trade agreement, it is our vision, and it is our new vision for how our economies can work together to provide real opportunity to our people,” U.S. Trade Representative Catherine Tai said at a press conference in Detroit. "We are not just trying to maximize the efficiency of globalization. We are working to promote sustainability, resilience and inclusion."
More than 30 organizations, including traditional trade groups and business groups, issued statements criticizing the new agreement on the same day.
“The business group has sent an open letter to the administration saying the deal is ruling out traditional U.S. trade priorities that could help U.S. exporters,” the NYT said. “This includes lowering tariffs on goods as well as other restrictions on trade. It also included limiting barriers and establishing stronger intellectual property protection.”
NYT continued, “The Biden administration says past trade agreements on these provisions have encouraged outsourcing and hurt American workers,” while “business leaders, on the other hand, say that without them, the Indo-Pacific Agreement will ultimately be the way these countries do business. We are arguing that it will have little impact.”
Signatories for the statement are the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Business Roundtable.
The letter, released by the NYT, "we fear that the content and direction of the Administration's proposal for talks will not only fail to deliver meaningful strategic and commercial results, but also risk jeopardizing U.S. trade and economic interests in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond." Concerns are growing,” he said.
The conflict between the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States has continued from the confrontation between free trade and fair trade to a conflict in the Pacific region.
The United States began negotiating a more traditional Pacific trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership under the Democratic-controlled Obama administration.
The agreement was designed to strengthen US commercial ties in the Pacific region and aimed to reduce tariffs on auto parts and agricultural products and strengthen intellectual property protections on pharmaceuticals in response to China's growing influence in the region.
The free-trade Republican Party opposed the Democratic Party's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which attempted fair trade, and became a hotbed of deep division between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.
President Trump, who emerged as a Republican America First hardline conservative regime, withdrew the United States from the agreement, and Japan, Australia, and other member states put the agreement into effect without the United States.
The Indo-Pacific Framework (IPEF), which the Democratic Party's Biden administration is attempting, included the same countries as the Pacific Agreement, India, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand, and the Yoon Seok-yeol system is the United States Republican Party's free trade world single free economic market system. has strengthened
The Biden administration added’workers’ human rights’ that the agreement was designed to better protect American workers and the environment.
China did not participate in the IPEF discussions, but at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade talks held in Detroit at the same time, met with South Korea's Trade Minister An Deok-geuk, and Commerce Minister Wang Wen-tao told reporters, "China and South Korea are supplying chips and sanctions. We have agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on the semiconductor industry supply chain amid widespread global concerns about national security and national security,” the Chinese Minister of Commerce said.
A Chinese Ministry of Commerce statement said on the 27th that Minister Wang and South Korean Minister Ahn “exchanged views on maintaining the stability of industrial supply chains and strengthening cooperation in bilateral, regional and multilateral fields” at the APEC meeting.
A Chinese statement released by Reuters said, "Minister Wang also said that China is willing to work with South Korea to deepen trade relations and investment cooperation." , instead, said the Minister of Trade had asked China to stabilize the supply of key raw materials and requested a predictable business environment for Korean companies in China.”
"The Korean side expressed the need for communication between working-level officials in all industries, not just semiconductors," said Reuters, an anonymous negotiating source. "Korea is in the crosshairs of fierce competition between the US and China over semiconductors." said.
Shortly thereafter in Detroit, US Commerce Secretary Raymond said, "The United States is working closely with Micron Technology memory chips and our allies to address such 'economic coercion'." It will coincide with US investment in the $5.2 billion CHIPS Act to stimulate production,” he said on the 28th.
He said he "resolutely opposes" China's actions against Micron. We expect companies from Korea and Singapore to participate in financing the CHIPS Act.”
“The other three pillars of IPEF – trade, climate change and labor and inclusion - are more complex and are expected to take longer to negotiate, but US officials are aiming for more results by the APEC summit in San Francisco in November,” Reuters reported. said.
Chinese regulators last week said they would block major infrastructure operators from buying Micron chips from the company, and the United States has asked countries to restrict China's access to advanced chips for national security and other reasons.
40% of Korea's chip exports go to China, and chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix need US technology and equipment.

In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 20 last year, President Yoon said, "When an individual's freedom is threatened within a country, community members must band together to remove the threat and protect freedom." We will fulfill our responsibilities together with the United Nations for peace and prosperity.”

On the 23rd, President Yoon attended the 'Small and Medium Business Entrepreneurs Convention' and said, "To respond to the trade and trade environment that has recently been segmented and blocked, the government will actively support companies' overseas expansion and export by working as one team with companies." Solidarity announced the strengthening of the free trade system that excludes labor unions.