The Korea Times - 13 November 2025

Seoul calls for steps to protect Korean firms against new EU trade regulations in FTA meeting

Korea on Thursday called for the European Union’s efforts to protect Korean companies in the latest round of their free trade agreement (FTA) committee meeting amid the EU’s plan to implement stronger steel safeguard measures.

The two sides held the 13th Committee on Trade in Goods meeting in Seoul to discuss tariff and non-tariff issues amid the recent spread of global trade protectionism, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The committee was established after the bilateral FTA between Korea and EU took effect in 2011.

In the meeting, Seoul urged the EU to devise a "favorable" solution to potential damages Korean firms may face under its new steel protection plan, stressing that Korea is a "trusted" partner of the EU in resolving the global steel oversupply.

Earlier this year, the European Commission announced plans to reduce tariff-free quotas on foreign steel by 47 percent and hike tariffs on imports exceeding the quota from the current 25 percent to 50 percent, citing the need to protect the EU steel industry.

The proposal is expected to replace the EU’s current steel safeguard measures, which are set to expire in June 2026.

Seoul stressed that the EU’s other measures related to trade, such as battery regulations, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), should not impose excessive burdens on Korean companies and should be applied in a non-discriminatory manner to both EU and non-EU firms.

The ministry said it has also called for continued communications over the EU’s push to strengthen regulations on cosmetics packaging, noting that sufficient time should be provided for Korean companies to prepare before the regulations take effect.