France also suffered... The power of ‘Super 301 trillion’ summoned by Coupang
“The most effective pressure” to delay taxation with retaliatory tariffs in France’s digital tax dispute… “A cool-headed diplomatic solution is needed.” Coupang’s U.S. investment company, venture capital (VC) Greenox and Altimeter, submitted a letter of intent to arbitrate an international investment dispute (ISDS) on the 22nd (local time) in opposition to the Korean government’s measures to regulate personal information leaks. They officially requested that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) investigate the Korean government and impose trade sanctions, including the imposition of tariffs. What U.S. investors presented as the basis for the USTR investigation is Article 301 of the Trade Act, so-called 'Super 301'. This is a legal means by which the United States can impose sanctions, such as retaliatory tariffs, on trading partners' unfair trade practices through presidential authority, and has been used as a core basis for major trade disputes in the past. Article 301 of the Trade Act was a major instrument of trade policy during the Trump administration. In 2018, the United States initiated a Section 301 investigation and imposed retaliatory tariffs on Chinese products due to China's infringement of intellectual property rights. This served as a means not only to resolve the U.S. trade deficit but also to demand system changes in other countries. In 2019, tariffs were imposed on aircraft and wine in the European Union (EU) due to subsidy payments to Airbus. The industry generally analyzes that this issue has a similar structure to the ‘French Digital Service Tax (DST) dispute’ in 2019. At the time, when France imposed taxes on American IT companies, USTR considered it an act of discrimination and opened an investigation. Afterwards, they announced the imposition of tariffs on French champagne, etc. and brought about a postponement of taxation. Coupang investment companies also define the Korean government's measures as 'discrimination against American companies', so the USTR's judgment in the future is drawing attention. Experts advise that we should keep in mind the possibility that this incident will spread beyond the individual Coupang issue and spread to Korea's major industries as a whole. Dong-hoo Son, an American lawyer at SJKP, said, “The essence of Article 301 is to find the most effective point of pressure to bring about policy changes in the other country’s government,” and analyzed, “It is a sufficiently realistic scenario for Korean semiconductors or automobiles to be placed on the retaliation list, as was the case in France.” He went on to say, "Article 301 has a strong tendency to be a political sword, and ISDS can be said to be a legal shield, but going through both procedures at the same time appears to be a diversionary operation." He added, "I am concerned that the risk of retaliation and astronomical compensation will act as a psychological and political binding force on policymakers." It is also pointed out that the structural specificity of Korea's data management system could become an issue in this dispute. Songcheon Moon, professor emeritus at KAIST Graduate School of Business, known as a world-renowned scholar on cyber DB security and the first national doctor of computer science, pointed out, “The U.S. claim is based on self-defense, and from their point of view, it is legal and reasonable.” Professor Moon advised, "The government will have to sufficiently prove that the weight and severity of damage from personal information leaks due to system differences between the two countries are different. The United States does not have a resident registration number, but Korea has a structure that has a lot of food for hackers due to the 'absolute ring' resident registration number." There are also voices calling for focusing on diplomatic solutions rather than overly interpreting the issue. Lee Jeong-hee, a professor of economics at Chung-Ang University, expressed caution, saying, "There has always been a trade controversy about foreign companies being disadvantaged, but in practical terms, there are not many cases where trade has become a major problem due to one specific company. It remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will actually take action." He emphasized, “We must continue to make people understand that we are not trying to diplomatically disadvantage a specific company, but rather hold them responsible for domestic damage.” Reporter Hwang Jeong-won (jwhwang@mt.co.kr)[View full article]
France also suffered... The power of ‘Super 301 trillion’ summoned by Coupang (link)