Home > Business > Industry

KITA Chair Yoon Jin-sik to meet Texas, Arizona officials on U.S. trip

Published: 11 Feb. 2025, 16:00

JIN EUN-SOO
[email protected]

Samsung Electronics' chip manufacturing facilities currently under construction in Texas. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Chairman Yoon Jin-sik will head to the United States next month to meet officials of states where Korean companies have a major presence.

“Headed by KITA Chairman Yoon, the delegation comprising executives in charge of international affairs, joined by local branches in Washington and Dallas, will head to southern states,” a spokesperson for the KITA said Tuesday.

The delegation will meet with related government officials of states that U.S. President Donald Trump won in 2024 rather than meeting with the president directly, according to the spokesperson.

The trip will take place in the second week of March with destinations including Arizona, Texas and Tennessee. The delegation expects to meet with governors and commerce ministers of the respective states.

Korean companies have invested heavily to build manufacturing facilities in the southern and southwestern states.

In Texas, for example, Samsung Electronics is setting up a $37 billion chip plant by the end of this decade.

Arizona is where LG Energy Solution is building a $5.5 billion cylindrical battery plant.

“We are taking a pre-emptive measure to President Trump's request, which asked government departments to draft a U.S.-first trade policy by April 1,” a KITA official told the JoongAng Ilbo.

“We will try to have opinions from states where Korean companies have heavily invested to be sufficiently reflected in the policy.”

KITA also plans to dispatch a business delegation to Washington in May, which is expected to be joined by chiefs of Korea's major conglomerates.

Korean businesses are scrambling to respond to the potential risks surfacing from the fast-changing trade policy from the Trump administration that prioritizes U.S. benefits.

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) is also dispatching a business delegation to Washing next week to meet with senior officials of the new administration.

The delegation will be headed by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also chairs the KCCI.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [[email protected]]