USTR voices hopes for 'outcomes' from S. Korea, Australia, EU regarding digital regulation

▲ This photo, released by UPI, shows U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaking during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 16, 2026. (Yonhap)

USTR-S Korea-digital regulation

USTR voices hopes for 'outcomes' from S. Korea, Australia, EU regarding digital regulation

By Song Sang-ho and Baek Na-ri

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer expressed hopes Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will see "outcomes" from South Korea, Australia and the European Union, as it seeks to ensure that foreign digital regulations do not affect American companies.

Greer made the remarks during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in Washington, as his office is conducting trade investigations into the countries under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act -- a provision that allows the USTR to investigate "unfair" foreign trade practices on a country-by-country basis.

"We have certain Section 301 potential actions in draft. The reality is we want to see outcomes in these countries, whether it's the European Union, Australia, Korea or member states within the European Union," he said.

"It's not a situation where you want to do a 301 (inquiry) to have tariffs just for tariffs' sake or something. We want to make sure we have outcomes," he added.

As an example for an outcome, Greer pointed out that France has held off on a proposal to move digital services taxes up to 6 percent.

"They did not act on that. We don't like what they have in place, but we've helped prevent that," he said.

"We do have these tools in our toolkit. We expect to use them if we need to. We're trying to reach negotiated outcomes, but we'll use them if we need to."

Section 301 investigations often result in tariffs and other remedies to address what Washington views as unfair trade practices.

Washington has raised concerns with South Korea's regulatory moves that could affect American digital platform operators, such as Google, X and Meta.

The Trump administration launched Section 301 trade investigations as part of efforts to reconstitute its tariff program after the Supreme Court struck down country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs in February, which were rolled out under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

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