Greenoaks and Altimeter withdraw Section 301 Petition as Administration Holds Korea Accountable and Announces its Intention to Advance Broad Section 301 Actions

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Greenoaks and Altimeter today announced that we have withdrawn our Section 301 petition concerning the Government of the Republic of Korea’s treatment of Coupang, Inc. Our potential action under the U.S.-Korea Fair Trade Agreement is unaffected and continues independently.

Several weeks ago, we filed a Section 301 petition to ensure that the discriminatory treatment of a U.S. company operating in Korea received serious scrutiny at the highest levels of the U.S. government. The issue has now provoked meaningful engagement between the U.S. and Korean governments and sustained concern from Members of Congress, laying the foundation for corrective action by the Korean Government.

Over the last several weeks, we have had constructive discussions with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that underscored the threat posed by the Korean Government’s actions against U.S. technology firms like Coupang. We have appreciated the opportunity to brief USTR and the fact that this issue has been raised with Korea at the highest levels.

We have also welcomed public statements by President Trump and Ambassador Greer since the filing of our Section 301 petition that confirm their intention to enforce Korea’s compliance with trade commitments that it has made to the United States, including as recently as last November. These commitments include Korea’s obligation to “ensure that U.S. companies are not discriminated against and do not face unnecessary barriers in terms of laws and policies concerning digital services.” USTR has further announced that it expects to initiate broader Section 301 investigations into unfair trade practices affecting American companies, including discrimination against U.S. technology companies and their digital goods and services.

The Trump Administration’s response has made clear that the U.S. government is taking the matter seriously and intends to hold Korea accountable, and that USTR will take concrete action to help level the playing field for U.S. technology firms, including in response to Korea’s treatment of Coupang.

Those actions would provide a more comprehensive and powerful approach to address the concerns we raised than a company-specific investigation. In light of these efforts, pursuing a standalone petition focused on a single company would be redundant, and we have therefore withdrawn it. We are confident that the heightened engagement between the United States and Korea will help ensure full implementation of Korea’s trade commitments and resolve the issues we raised in our petition.

Our rights under the U.S.–Korea Free Trade Agreement are unaffected by our withdrawal of our Section 301 petition, and our potential action against the Government of the Republic of Korea continues independently. We will continue to defend the principle that U.S. investors and companies must receive fair and non-discriminatory treatment under international agreements. We look forward to seeing these principles vindicated.

ABOUT GREENOAKS

Greenoaks is a concentrated, long-term partner to extraordinary founders building generational businesses.

ABOUT ALTIMETER

Altimeter is a technology-focused investment firm that invests across public and private markets.