Eight out of ten small and medium-sized export enterprises are concerned that the United States' reciprocal tariff measures will have a negative impact on exports, leading the government to unveil additional support measures to minimize damage and enhance export vitality. The government plans to strengthen support systems to address tariff damage for small and medium-sized enterprises and support diversification of export markets.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the 'additional support measures for small and medium-sized enterprises in response to U.S. tariffs' at a meeting of economic ministers on the 14th.
The government will first strengthen specialized support systems for urgent response to tariff damage for small and medium-sized enterprises. It will expand the tariff consultation function of the 'Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Export Trouble Reporting Center' and assign dedicated personnel for close support to affected companies. Additional consultation channels for tariffs will also be established, along with support through the existing export regulatory response team. In particular, there are plans to newly introduce a 'tariff artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot' function on the Kakao channel.
In addition, the existing 'One-Stop Export and Order Support Team' will expand its functions to become the 'One-Stop Tariff Response Support Headquarters' to comprehensively receive and manage tariff issues. Issues reported through various channels such as 'Tariff Response 119' will be managed integratively, and processing results will be checked weekly to ensure prompt response at the government level.
The government aims to alleviate the management burden on small and medium-sized enterprises through urgent funds and export voucher support. An additional supply of 400 billion won in emergency funds will be provided to address global trade risks such as high exchange rates and tariffs, and a special guarantee of 4.2 trillion won will also be established and operated.
The plan is to comprehensively support export difficulties by additionally operating an export voucher worth 174.5 billion won that supports both tariff response and overseas marketing. Alongside this, cooperation with major logistics companies such as Hanjin will expand discounts on logistics costs for exports to the U.S.
The government will also take steps to diversify export markets and enhance market development capabilities. To promote new market development and diversification of export countries for small and medium-sized export enterprises, an additional supply of 100 billion won in new market entry funds will be provided. For startups, a delegation will be sent to strategic markets, and a roadmap for entry by country will be established to support the expansion of export markets.
To address export regulations acting as non-tariff barriers, an additional 10 billion won will be injected to support the costs of obtaining overseas certifications. Moreover, to enhance the competitiveness of the export ecosystem, a 'Deep Tech Value-Up Program' supporting open innovation between large and small-sized corporations will be operated, and a value-up fund worth 10 billion won will also be newly created to facilitate subsequent investments.
Finally, a policy hub for tariff response will be established. A 'meeting of small and medium-sized enterprise export support organizations' involving various support institutions will be held to discuss measures for responding to U.S. tariffs and to review and complement overall export policies.
Minister Oh Youngju noted, 'This measure is based on a survey of the actual conditions of small and medium-sized export enterprises regarding the impact of U.S. tariffs on their exports and is an additional support measure.' She added, 'We will spare no policy support to minimize damage to our small and medium-sized enterprises and further create new opportunities in the global market.'