Korea joins 15-nation statement targeting structural overcapacity

The industry ministry said Thursday that South Korea and 14 other economies issued a joint ministerial statement in Paris calling on governments to act against non-market policies and practices that distort markets and sustain structural overcapacity and production capacity.

The statement, "Joint Ministerial Statement on Addressing Structural Excess Capacity and Production," was released Wednesday afternoon local time at the OECD headquarters in Paris. The signatories are Argentina, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The five sectors are automobiles and electric vehicles, batteries, chemicals, foundational semiconductors and solar panels. The statement's participants agreed to open the sectoral bodies to non-OECD countries as well as members.

Before December, the participating countries plan to hold a working-level meeting. On the agenda are terms of reference for operating each sectoral body, the sharing of publicly available information and data on the industrial impact of overcapacity and on ways to mitigate the damage it causes, and the use of OECD and other materials.

The initiative follows the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, where structural overcapacity and production capacity were discussed as a major agenda item. Members failed to reach a G20-level consensus because of differences among some of them, and countries that share concerns about overcapacity issued the joint statement through a separate channel.

The government said it will take an active part in building the sectoral cooperation platforms and in the follow-up discussions, and will work closely with major economies to respond effectively to the global overcapacity problem.