ITIF Urges USTR to Probe Korean Fines on U.S. Tech Firms

U.S. think tank ITIF found that South Korea's Fair Trade Commission imposed average fines of about 39.2 billion won on U.S. companies from 2016 to 2025, versus 1.9 billion won on Korean firms — 21 times higher. ITIF urged USTR to consider a Section 301 investigation and possible retaliation, citing the Coupang case and Korea's platform regulation bill.

• Average U.S. firm fine was 39.2 billion won vs 1.9 billion won for Korean firms
• 96.5% of U.S. fines fell on Qualcomm, Google and Coupang
• ITIF urges USTR Section 301 probe and possible countermeasures
• Korea's platform bill allows fines of up to 10% of related sales