Over 50 companies applied for U.S. tariff refunds with KOTRA support... Received $52 million

Seungwon Kim “Find companies that need support and take care of every last one.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Bo-in = While the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has been providing consulting services for companies seeking tariff refunds from the U.S. government, it has been found that about 50 companies that received KOTRA support have received refunds.

According to data received from KOTRA by the office of Rep. Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee, 54 companies applied for U.S. tariff refunds with KOTRA support this year, and 48 of them received a total refund of $52.44 million.

The remaining six have not yet received their refunds.

The targets of this count are companies that received KOTRA's one-on-one consulting support, and companies that applied on their own are not included.

The tariff refund is a follow-up measure after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that the tariff measures imposed by the Donald Trump administration based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal.

If the exporter exported goods under the delivery-on-duty payment (DDP) basis, where the exporter pays tariffs on behalf of the importer, he or she can apply for a refund directly to the U.S. customs authorities. The Korea Customs Service previously determined that about 6,000 of the 24,000 companies that exported to the U.S. used the DDP method.

KOTRA announced that it held 26 briefing sessions from January to September this year regarding U.S. tariff refunds, with a total of 2,138 people attending.

During the same period, the number of consultations was 135 and one-on-one consulting was 143.

However, as the problem of refunds cannot be solved through briefing sessions or consultations, some say that continuous inspection and follow-up support should be provided so that more companies can actually apply for refunds and receive refunds smoothly.

Rep. Kim Seung-won said, “We need to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses that share the burden of tariffs are not left in the blind spot for refunds,” and added, “KOTRA must actively seek out companies that need support and take care of every last detail so that our companies can get their money back.”