On December 26, 2023, Korea issued its flexible tariff Adjustment and Tariff Rate Quota list for certain agricultural, forestry and fishery products for calendar year (CY) 2024. Flexible tariffs, which include tariff rate quotas (TRQs) and adjustment duties, are utilized by the Korean government to stabilize consumer prices and balance supply and demand.
Korea's 2024 tariff adjustments were relatively unchanged from the previous year. However, on January 19, 2024, in response to continued food price inflation, Korea announced expanded TRQs and increased in quota volumes for several commodities such as fresh fruits, processed fruit products and table eggs to help stabilize prices before the Lunar New Year holiday. Under the 2024 tariff schemes, U.S. exports of oranges, table eggs, processed eggs, shelled peanuts, sugar, and potato starch to Korea will enjoy lower tariff rates, as these products still do not have full duty-free access under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS).
On January 19, MOEF responded by applying emergency tariff quotas for an additional 21 commodities (Tables VII & VIII), including many imported fruits, during the first half of 2024 to stabilize the overall fruit market. The main fruit items targeted for additional TRQs are bananas (150,000 MT), pineapples (40,000 MT), mangoes (14,000 MT), grapefruit (8,000 MT), avocados (1,000 MT), and oranges (5,000 MT). These emergency TRQs will reduce the tariffs on imported fruit, currently at 30 percent in most cases, to zero percent by the end of June.
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Source: apps.fas.usda.gov