By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

Gyeonggi-do Governor Kim Dong-yeon and Canadian Ambassador to Korea Tamara Mawhinney met on Feb. 6 to discuss ways to respond to tariffs, which have become a hot topic since the inauguration of the second Trump administration.

According to Gyeonggi-do, the U.S. administration recently announced the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but decided to suspend them for a month on Feb. 3, one day before the effective date.

In addition, in response to the U.S. imposing an additional 10% universal tariff on all Chinese imports, China has announced so-called retaliatory tariffs of 10-15% on some U.S. imports, including coal and petroleum, starting on February 10.

If the high-rate tariffs on Canada and Mexico are realized, Korean companies with production plants in the region, especially in the electric vehicle and battery industries, are expected to be hit hard.

Gyeonggi-do officials said it was significant that the two leaders shared views on how to respond to the tariffs with Canada, which is a party to the tariffs. The two leaders met for about two hours at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul.

Governor Kim and Ambassador Mawhinney affirmed the importance of each other as win-win economic and industrial partners, even in the face of the U.S.-led trade crisis. In particular, they discussed cooperation and growth based on mutual trust, climate change response, and specific cooperation plans in the field of AI.

“Gyeonggi-do, Korea, and its relationship with Canada is progressing well, and I hope that it will continue to expand,” Kim said.

“Canada is open to doing business with Gyeonggi-do and would like to continue the dialog,” said Ambassador Mawhinney.

The two leaders also discussed data sharing, capacity building, and joint technology development in situations such as wildfire response, as well as how Canada and Korea will move forward on the 10th anniversary of the FTA.

Canada and Korea have been promoting exchanges since Ambassador Mawhinney's visit to Gyeonggi Province in September 2022 as acting ambassador.