Public submissions for the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report poured in last week, sounding an unmistakable alarm across the American business community: U.S. companies operating in South Korea face a deteriorating regulatory climate characterized by aggressive, asymmetric enforcement.
\n\nTrade associations and corporate leaders alike warned that the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) — with Chairman Ju Biung-ghi at the helm — is systematically singling out American firms at the cost of America’s economy. Korean conglomerates have enjoyed record expansions and massive state subsidies on American soil — from Samsung’s multibillion-dollar chip project in Texas to Hyundai’s electric vehicle complex in Georgia.
\n\nU.S. investors in Seoul though report facing punitive administrative scrutiny that seems to turn on the nationality of their corporate boards. This double standard has come into sharp focus as the Korean government demands guaranteed returns, tariff cuts and visa carve-outs related to U.S.-proposed projects while balking at accusations of their discriminatory treatment of American firms, claiming “judicial sovereignty.”
\n\nAnd the alarm is only intensifying because the KFTC and its leadership are preparing to codify and expand these practices. Chairman Ju is aggressively advancing new digital platform competition legislation and harsher penalties.
\n\nRather than offering…
Original source: https://www.breitbart.com/tech/
