The United States will make sure South Korea's concerns over the U.S. rules on limiting the sourcing of critical minerals and components for electric vehicles from China are "taken into account," a senior U.S. official said Thursday, amid growing calls from Korean industries for a revision of the regulations. Jose Fernandez, under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, reiterated the stance in a roundtable with South Korean media, emphasizing that Korea is an indispensable partner in achieving key initiatives in clean energy and climate change. Fernandez was in Seoul this week for annual vice-ministerial economic talks with South Korea. "When I visited Korea last year, the major aspect of my visit was to assure Korean companies and the government that we understood their concerns and heard their concerns," Fernandez said at the roundtable held at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. "Why was that? Because we could not achieve our clean energy goals by ourselves. That pattern continues. ... We have heard your concerns, understand those concerns, and we will take them into account because the only way we succeed is together," he said. South Korea has expressed concerns over the regulations requiring EV and EV component makers to eliminate critical minerals and materials sourced from China, designated as a Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC), to qualify for up to a US$7,500 tax credit that goes to the EV buyers. The provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are seen as part of U.S. efforts to reshape the critical minerals supply chain away from China, the world's largest supplier of such materials, amid the strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing. The Korean government and companies have suggested the FEOC rules be revised to allow a temporary exemption on the number of applicable critical minerals, among other recommendations. Fernandez said that the Korean government and companies have done "a very good job" in conveying the concerns to Washington. "They have not been shy about expressing those concerns," he said. Fernandez highlighted the need to diversify the supply chains of critical minerals, calling it a "priority" of the Joe Biden administration. South Korea has been "an early and incredibly supportive and valuable partner" in taking steps for the diversification initiative, Fernandez said, as having together taken part in the U.S.-led multilateral Mineral Security Partnership on critical minerals supply chains. "If there's one thing that we learned from the COVID pandemic, is that we cannot depend on just one or two suppliers. The Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act are part of that diversification of supply chains," he said, referring to the $52.7 billion subsidy programs for semiconductor companies. Regarding the subsidies, Fernandez said he expects the awarding of the funding to start this year by the Commerce Department, noting that many of South Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics Co., are among the contenders. "They are being reviewed carefu lly, and the intent is (for them) to be issued as soon as possible," he said. Source: Yonhap News Agency