Japan May Be Planning to Add Additional Export Restrictions on South Korea
The trade dispute from South Korea and Japan may intensify by July 24th:
Trade tensions between South Korea and Japan are escalating as Tokyo seems to be preparing to expand the scope of its export controls beyond high-tech materials to a wide spectrum of areas, which could disrupt the global supply chain, industry watchers said Monday.
Japan began applying stricter export rules on South Korea for three key materials needed for making chips and displays on July 4 over a wartime forced labor issue and is pushing to remove South Korea from a list of trusted buyers, which could affect the supply of other key materials needed for making smartphones, televisions, chemicals and other industrial materials.
Tokyo’s move to exclude Seoul from its “whitelist” of countries on national security grounds would require Korean companies to seek export licenses for a wider range of technologies, which could result in additional costs and time.
South Korea is currently on the neighbor’s 27-nation whitelist, which includes the United States, Germany, Poland and Italy.
“If Japan removes South Korea from its whitelist, about 1,100 items are estimated to be affected by the new regulations,” a Seoul trade ministry official said, asking not to be named. “We are closely analyzing the potential impact from Japan’s move on the South Korean industry.”
The Japanese government is expected to announce the decision on July 24 after a review process, which goes into effect 21 days later. Seoul’s trade ministry proposed another meeting with its Japanese counterpart before the deadline to discuss the issue, after their first meeting Friday failed to mend the disputes.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but some observers believe the trade dispute will ease after upper house elections in Japan are complete on Sunday. The observers believe Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is using the trade dispute for political advantage in the election.
Let this be a warning to you, America, what happens when you lazily let other countries monopolize your strategic industries.
It seems only Trump understands this.
CH, you are depressingly correct. There are far too many Americans who not only can’t count back change but also haven’t figured out the rest of the world hates all of us, not just Trump.
Daniel Pearl was unavailable for comment.
CH, that’s true. But it’s also a big lesson for all nations. The US at least is in a better position than most others due to its economic size and the fact that if anyone messes with them will face a crippling boycott.
Going back to Japan’s banning of three chemicals necessary for South Korean manufacturing of memory chips, both Samsung and SK Hynix have announced all three chemicals will be replaced by domestic makers, so there will be no dent in the production now or the near future. They’re now waiting on Japan to announce the rest of a load of banned goodies. Everyone agrees that this may be the kick that Korea needed to shore up the strategic parts and materials industry which was neglected for so long. The Chaebols didn’t see them as economically profitable to strengthen the parts and materials industry. It was easier to just buy from Japan which was located right next to Korea, with virtually no costs associated with shipping. Now that everyone realizes that Japan can no longer be a trusted supplier, things are going to definitely change for the better in the long run. This could be a trigger point or a catalyst towards a more competitively structured South Korean economy.