Korea International Trade Association (KITA) President Yoon Jin-sik, left, shakes hands with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas, Wednesday (local time). Courtesy of KITA

Korea International Trade Association (KITA) President Yoon Jin-sik met Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and visited the local governments of Tennessee and Arkansas last week to ask the states to play a greater role in securing Korean firms' investment stability under the Donald Trump administration.

Along with the Texas governor, Yoon met Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, and Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Hugh McDonald during his U.S. visit from Wednesday to Friday (local time). Instead of meeting federal government officials, Yoon focused on state-level authorities, asking them to pay closer attention to Korean companies' grievances and how state governments have been supportive of the companies.

Yoon first met Abbott and advocated for Korean companies worrying over the reduced subsidies as a result of a revised CHIPS and Science Act. Yoon said "the biggest risk to a business is uncertainty" and "(Korean) companies can continue investing hard in the U.S. only when measures promised by the former administration are not shut down by the next administration."

According to KITA, Abbott responded that he will "monitor" how Trump's negative reception of the CHIPS Act will affect Korean investments in Texas and will resolve uncertainty using various state measures, including the state's own chip industry promotion laws and the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund.

KITA President Yoon Jin-sik, second from left, speaks with Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, second from right, about Korean companies operating in the state at the American agency's office in Tennessee, Thursday (local time). Courtesy of KITA

Yoon continued speaking for Korean companies when meeting McWhorter and McDonald. He said the Trump administration's tariff measures and downsizing of subsidies for companies investing in the U.S. will drive the companies to reduce investments and affect their hiring of local workers. He added the state authorities should take a stronger stance with the federal government regarding the issue.

Officials from semiconductor material and solution company OCI, which currently operates in Texas, and those from LG Electronics, LG Chem and Hankook Tire & Technology, which are active in Tennessee, met Yoon during his U.S. visit. The companies informed Yoon of their needs from U.S. state governments, such as increased industrial water supply, upgraded power infrastructure and faster licensing by state authorities.

"Reaching out to state governments is as important as that for the federal government," Yoon said. "State governments can better recognize the Trump administration's measures on tariff and subsidy reduction as threats to employment of their local workforce. I will keep reaching out to related authorities so that more of this feedback reaches the U.S. federal government."

KITA plans to send a delegation to Washington in May to engage with the federal government.