USTR says US to honor tariff caps in trade deals: reports

WASHINGTON — U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said Thursday that the United States will honor tariff caps in last year's trade deals with the European Union, Japan and other countries, saying "a deal is a deal," according to news reports.

He made the remarks during a press availability on the margins of an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ministerial meeting in Paris, Reuters and Bloomberg reported, amid concerns that U.S. trade investigations into South Korea and other countries would result in new tariffs that could exceed the caps.

Earlier this week, the USTR office proposed imposing 10 or 12.5 percent tariffs on products from 60 trading partners over their alleged failure to enforce import bans on products made with forced labor.

South Korea is among the dozens of economies that would face the 12.5 percent levy. "We understand that a deal is a deal," Greer said of the trade agreement with the EU. "We want to make sure that we are able to resolve the trading practices that are identified as problematic in our investigations and we're going