SEOUL, Feb 4 (Reuters) – South Korea’s National Assembly has agreed to finalise a bill to make investments in the United States by March 9 under a trade deal between the countries, the ruling and main opposition parties said on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened last week to hike tariffs on imports from South Korea, blaming a delay in enacting a trade deal in which the Asian ally promised to invest $350 billion in the United States.
A special committee will be set up on February 9 and have the power to draft the bill, which will be finalised by March 9, the two main parties’ floor leaders said in a briefing.
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party in November introduced the bill to establish a special fund to finance the investment committed in the U.S. in return for lowering the tariffs to 15% on Korean autos.
(Reporting by Heejin Kim, Hyunjoo Jin and Jack KimEditing by Ed Davies)
