INDUSTRY MINISTER ON U.S. IRA

[Anchor Lead]

Korea's industry minister, who is visiting the U.S. to discuss the issue of Korean electric vehicles, says he will point out errors in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. An American state governor who has long ties with Korea has sent a letter to President Biden to express his concerns.

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Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang, who is visiting the U.S. to discuss tax incentives for Korean electric vehicles, says he will hold discussions on raising on-going working-level talks to a government level.

[Soundbite] Lee Chang-yang(Industry Minister) : "I will point out policy errors in a forthright matter and create a debate within the U.S. gov’t in every way possible."

Lee, who has met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, says it's about time to take a political approach to the matter. The minister wants to approach the issue by taking into account the fact that the U.S. is to hold mid-term elections in November and that the U.S. Congress created the law based on political calculations. Lee told reporters that he will convey the opinion that if the IRA complicates relations and causes a negative public sentiment in Korea, a policy momentum from a broad perspective may be lost and big losses may be incurred in return for small gains. Maryland State Governor Larry Hogan, who has a Korean-American wife, has sent a letter to President Biden to express his concerns over the Inflation Reduction Act, which excludes Korean vehicles from tax incentives. He wrote, "Additional strategies could involve exemptions or delayed implementation for companies with commitments to invest in the U.S., or for allies with whom we have standing trade agreements.“

[Soundbite] Larry Hogan(Maryland State Governor(Sept. 17)) : "They're investing billions of dollars in the US built auto manufacturer saying we got to be encouraging that more rather than discouraging it. So I think there were some unintended consequences by this this bill."

The Korean government believes finding a solution is not going to be easy before the November mid-term elections. It plans to address the problem through working-level and high-level talks.