US-Korea-Global Week in Review–New Book, too.
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The week of July 20 to 24 ended with the tariff question answered, and not the way Seoul and others wanted. Washington set a new floor, Korea, for example, kept its previous ceiling.
Forced-labor tariff landed at 12.5 percent. USTR issued its final Section 301 action Thursday covering Korea, Japan, Switzerland and 57 other economies, effective July 24.
For Korea it works as a floor, topping products up to 12.5 percent rather than adding 12.5 across the board. Seoul has held the 15 percent ceiling on cars. Washington reaffirmed that Korean goods should not exceed the negotiated bilateral rate. Section 232 metals stay capped at 15 percent through 2027. Pharma and semiconductor carve-outs are still being negotiated.
BCW Take
Globally, the 12.5 percent forced-labor floor is the number to plan around now. It is not catastrophic, but it resets the base under every other trade conversation, and clients with EU, China, or Vietnam-adjacent supply chains sit in the same bucket.
The bigger story is the trade: Korea has bought its 15 percent ceiling with capital planted on American soil. Shipbuilding, energy, and chips are the currency.
Cadence: Briefing Mon-Fri, Sunday Week in Review, plus special updates most Saturdays.
New on Kindle: Hyundai and Kia Motors, 2026 Edition
I have revised and reissued my 2012 history of how South Korea built a global automotive industry. It runs from Hyundai’s first Ford assembly agreement in 1967 through the Pony and the Excel, Kia’s rise from three-wheel trucks to the Festiva and Sephia, the IMF Crisis, and the merger and quality turnaround that followed.
The 2026 edition adds an afterword on why this matters now. The state-directed export playbook that built the car industry is the same one running today in semiconductors and AI.
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