Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Bang Moon Kyu, on the occasion of attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meetings held through November 15-17 in San Francisco, met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on November 15 and discussed measures for expanding bilateral cooperation in semiconductors and advanced industries, and requested continued cooperation in major trade issues.

Minister Bang assessed that the two countries have been expanding collaboration in various areas for comprehensive cooperation through the Korea-U.S. summit meeting (April) and the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit (August), namely in semiconductors, batteries, advanced industries’ supply chains, technological security and critical minerals, and proposed that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) continue to play substantial roles in furthering the Korea-U.S. alliance to one of advanced industries and technology.

Moreover, Minister Bang requested the continued cooperation of the U.S. DOC on the major remaining issues regarding the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), highlighting that the IRA’s guidance on the “foreign entity of concern (FEOC)” must be reasonably established, taking into consideration the structure of the global supply chain for batteries and critical minerals.

In addition, Minister Bang viewed that the Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation has become more institutionalized through the trilateral industrial ministers’ meeting commenced in August. MOTIE and the U.S. DOC leaders agreed to hold another trilateral ministerial meeting early next year, through which the three countries can expect to seriously push forward cooperative efforts for utilizing their strengths in advanced industries, supply chains and other core areas.