American Ally Has Gone Beyond Tariffs To Inflict Pain On American Businesses

The trade debate in Washington has been dominated by tariffs for years. 

They drive headlines and shape negotiations, yet if policymakers are serious about protecting American competitiveness, they need to look beyond tariffs to the growing challenge U.S. businesses are facing overseas: discriminatory non-tariff barriers.

Non-tariff barriers come in the form of selective regulation, politically motivated investigations, digital restrictions and enforcement actions that disproportionately target American companies while favoring domestic competitors.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee released a report that shines a spotlight on how South Korean regulators used the full weight of their government to stifle an American that has invested billions of dollars in South Korea and become one of its largest private employers.

According to the Committee, Korean authorities framed a limited data breach as a national security crisis while treating more serious incidents involving domestic companies differently. The report describes what followed as a “whole-of-government assault” involving more than ten government agencies, over 4,200 document requests, more than 650 employee interviews, dozens of unrelated investigations and threats of criminal prosecution against American executives.

The targeting campaign has not stopped, as just last month, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) imposed a historic $410 million fine, the largest privacy penalty ever levied against a single company in Korea. The House report argues the fine far exceeds penalties imposed on domestic companies that were responsible for more serious data breaches, raising obvious questions about whether American firms are being held to a different standard.

Discriminatory targeting of U.S. businesses directly hurts American workers and investors. The Committee cites estimates suggesting South Korea’s discriminatory regulatory practices alone could contribute to more than $500 billion in economic losses for the United States while costing the average American household approximately $3,800 over the next decade.