[CTC] Trump admin to S Korea: We’ll launch trade investigation if you pursue digital regulations

[Arthur Stamoulis]

*PoliticoPro*

*Trump admin to S Korea: We’ll launch trade investigation if you pursue
digital regulations*

By Ari Hawkins

11/19/25


The Trump administration has signaled in private talks that it could launch
a Section 301 trade investigation if South Korea pursues legislation viewed
as harmful to U.S. tech firms, even as the two nations move ahead with
their new trade agreement.

The White House released a *joint fact sheet
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/11/joint-fact-sheet-on-president-donald-j-trumps-meeting-with-president-lee-jae-myung/>*
last
week with more details of the terms U.S. officials agreed to with the South
Korean government when President Donald Trump was in the country last
month. It included a commitment by Seoul to ensure that regulations on
network fees, online platforms and cross-border data flows do not
disadvantage American companies.

According to three people close to the discussions who were granted
anonymity to disclose private conversations, U.S. Trade Representative
Jamieson Greer and other administration officials have repeatedly warned
they could launch a 301 probe if Seoul walks away from that particular part
of the agreement.

Greer most recently issued that warning during discussions leading up to
last month’s summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung,
as South Korean negotiators hedged on proposals the U.S. believes would
expose tech behemoths like Google, Apple and Meta to heavy fines. He also
said something similar at a September meeting with South Korean Trade
Minister Yeo Han-koo, the people said.

The pressure campaign is part of the administration’s wider effort to push
back on foreign regulations aimed at reining in the power of large digital
platforms — a model pioneered by the European Union and its Digital Markets
Act. Last week, the Trump administration unveiled trade agreements with
Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador that include requirements
that those countries reject digital services taxes.

The joint fact sheet on the South Korean agreement that the Trump
administration released late last week included new details on what Seoul
has agreed to in terms of digital policies. That includes ensuring that
“U.S. companies are not discriminated against and do not face unnecessary
barriers in terms of laws and policies concerning digital services.” And it
listed examples such as “network usage fees and online platform
regulations.” The Korean government also agreed “to facilitate cross-border
transfer of data, including for location, reinsurance, and personal data,”
according to the fact sheet.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission, the country’s primary antitrust regulator,
is now expected to reverse its earlier push for those measures, effectively
sidelining policies the agency had long championed.

Administration officials and U.S. tech industry allies are expressing
confidence that Lee’s government won’t renege on that agreement. “After all
the hard work that went into last week’s trade deal, it’s unimaginable that
Korean officials would let the KFTC move forward with legislation or
regulatory actions that would blow everything up and inevitably lead back
to higher tariffs and escalating tensions,” said one corporate lobbyist
close to the White House.

A White House official confirmed that the possibility of a Section 301
“came up” as part of talks with South Korea. But they said the U.S. was not
yet considering a "heavy-handed approach."

“The Koreans understood that tariffs are … a stick we carry,” the official
added.

“U.S. and Korean negotiators worked constructively on trade commitments,”
said a separate administration official. “This includes common agreement on
digital trade matters and non-discriminatory treatment of tech companies
and other services sectors.”

*Background: *The digital principles in the U.S.–South Korea agreement were
intended by the Trump administration to undercut the kinds of tech
proposals the South Korean National Assembly has weighed in recent years,
the people said.

The proposals — debated alongside network-usage fees and additional
platform regulation bills recently pushed by the ruling Democratic Party of
Korea — have become a growing concern for U.S. lawmakers and U.S. tech
companies in recent months. The Trump administration demanded that the
Korean government drop such proposals as part of a tentative agreement
reached over the summer to lower tariffs on Korean goods to 15 percent. The
two governments have continued to haggle over the specifics, however, as
well as other details of the agreement, such as a commitment by Korea to
invest $350 billion in the U.S.
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