15 countries, including Korea, the United States, and Japan, jointly respond to overproduction of electric vehicles... Looks like it's aimed at China

Forming a consultative body in five areas, including electric vehicles, batteries, chemicals, general-purpose semiconductors, and solar panels.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Shin Chang-yong = 15 countries, including Korea, have decided to jointly respond to the problem of structural overproduction in major industries such as electric vehicles, batteries, chemicals, general-purpose semiconductors, and solar panels.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 8th that 15 countries, including Korea, announced a 'Joint Ministerial Statement to Respond to Structural Overproduction' at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris, France, on the 7th (local time).

In this joint statement, Korea, Argentina, Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU), France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States participated.

At the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting held in Milwaukee, USA for two days from the 30th of last month, most member countries agreed on the seriousness of the overproduction problem, but due to differences of opinion among some member countries, a consensus could not be reached.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reported that 15 countries that shared awareness of the problem later issued a joint statement at the OECD Trade Committee in Paris.

Participating countries agreed that structural overproduction and production capacity are posing significant challenges to the global economy and individual national economies. In addition, he urged each country to take active countermeasures against non-market policies and practices, such as subsidies, that distort the market and perpetuate overproduction.

Five specific response areas were selected: ▲ automobiles and electric vehicles (EV) ▲ batteries ▲ chemicals ▲ general-purpose semiconductors ▲ solar panels. Participating countries plan to form a dedicated consultative body for each sector to identify the status of overproduction and the impact on the industry and market and seek effective countermeasures.

It was decided to keep the door open for non-OECD member countries to participate in the sectoral consultative body in the future.

Participating countries plan to hold a working-level meeting before December and establish a plan for operating the consultative body in each field. Additionally, we decided to share publicly available information regarding overproduction status and industry impact.

Although this statement did not name a specific country, it is interpreted as actually targeting China. Western countries, including the United States and Europe, have criticized Chinese companies for flooding the global market with products overproduced through unfair government subsidies.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, "In order to effectively respond to the problem of global overproduction, we will actively participate in establishing a cooperation platform for each sector and follow-up discussions, and cooperate closely with major countries."