Return of Section 301: How prepared is Korea?

 

 
Park Su-ryon
 
The author is the deputy editor of Content Division Three and the head of corporate research at the JoongAng Ilbo. 
 
 
 
The United States has finally drawn the Section 301 card under its trade law. The measure allows Washington to impose retaliatory tariffs if it determines that foreign governments are pursuing unreasonable or discriminatory policies that restrict U.S. trade.
 

Harold Rogers, interim head of Coupang Korea, leaves after testifying at a U.S. House hearing on alleged discriminatory treatment of Coupang in Korea at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23. [NEWS1]

 
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has placed several allies, including Korea, Japan and the European Union, on its investigation list. The move signals that the issue goes beyond traditional tariff disputes.
 
The key lies in a line stating that the USTR will also examine digital services transactions. In effect, Washington is indicating that it may challenge regulations requiring greater responsibility from large American technology platforms.
 
U.S. companies have long argued that Korea’s proposed online platform law and network usage fees, as well as the European Union’s Digital Services Act, function as nontariff barriers.
 

Country Manager Germany and Vice President of Central Europe at Google Philipp Justus, Governing Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner, Germany's Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Europe Annette Kroeber-Riel, Vice President of Research at Google DeepMind Slav Petrov, and Germany's Minister for Digitalisation and Government Modernisation Karsten Wildberger, open Google's new AI centre in Berlin, Germany, March 5. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

 
American technology firms are now closely aligned with the Trump administration’s emphasis on defending “American interests.” Nvidia has agreed to share part of the revenue from certain chips sold in China with the U.S. government as a fee, while Intel has accepted the U.S. government as a shareholder.
 
Some companies appear willing to go further. Amazon spent $75 million producing a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, raising questions about whether corporate actions sometimes serve the interests of the Trump family rather than broader national priorities.
 
In return, the U.S. government has moved to remove obstacles that might hinder these companies’ commercial activities or their access to data needed for AI services.
 
According to Reuters, the U.S. State Department recently instructed American ambassadors to respond actively to foreign efforts to strengthen data sovereignty or impose data localization rules. Washington has also criticized Europe’s Digital Services Act as a threat to freedom of expression.
 
At the same time, critics note that the United States has shown little concern about problems arising from American generative AI services, including the creation of child sexual exploitation images. While Washington frames the dispute as a cultural conflict, the underlying issue appears to be protecting the interests of U.S. technology firms.
 
Coupang has also tried to present itself as a U.S. company deserving Washington’s protection. Beyond donations to American presidents and members of Congress and cultivating connections with figures close to Trump, the company’s recent actions have drawn attention.
 

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After a leak of customer data caused by management failures, Coupang attempted to frame the issue as a bilateral trade matter between Korea and the United States. The company’s American chief executive gave limited answers in Korea’s National Assembly but voluntarily appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives to present his position.
 
Investment firms connected to Coupang’s headquarters have also petitioned the USTR to apply Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act against Korea.
 
Critics note that these actors have remained silent about other issues surrounding the company, including fatal accidents involving warehouse workers and special regulatory treatment granted under the previous Korean administration.
 
The broader concern is that cases like Coupang’s may become more common.
 
Lee Ju-hyung, a professor of international trade law at the University of Seoul Law School, says more U.S. technology companies may try to use Washington’s focus on digital regulation as a nontariff barrier to advance their interests.
 
Pressure on Korea’s data sovereignty could intensify as American firms seek to shape the rules governing the emerging artificial intelligence industry.
 
Recent events suggest such pressure is already affecting policy decisions. The Korean government recently approved Google’s long-delayed request to export high-precision mapping data overseas, reportedly in consideration of tariff negotiations with Washington.
 

Atlas, a humanoid robot unveiled by Hyundai Motor Group and its robotics affiliate Boston Dynamics at CES 2026, demonstrates moving automotive parts at the group’s exhibition booth in this photo provided by Hyundai Motor on Jan. 18. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

 
At the same time, Korea must establish governance structures to manage the growing outflow of private sector data abroad.
 
Industry sources say several American companies are deploying AI and robotics technologies in Korean manufacturing sectors such as steel and shipbuilding to collect training data.
 
Because U.S. manufacturing capacity has declined, such firms cannot easily obtain comparable data domestically and therefore seek partnerships with Korean companies.
 
For Korean businesses seeking productivity gains, these partnerships may appear rational. From the perspective of Korea’s economic security, however, the situation raises difficult questions.
 
The concern is that tacit knowledge accumulated in Korea’s manufacturing sector could end up training the “brains and muscles” of American AI robots.
 
Korea must move beyond reacting with surprise whenever Washington raises trade pressure. Instead, it needs a sophisticated strategy to prepare for what could become a new era of trade conflict.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.