On Tuesday, Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) and several other members of Congress sent a letter to United States Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer. The letter urges the USTR to address what they describe as discriminatory practices by South Korea against American cloud service providers. According to the lawmakers, current South Korean regulations only allow U.S. companies to store low-tier government data, which limits their participation in the country’s expanding public sector cloud market.
Other signatories of the letter include Representatives Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Greg Steube (R-FL), Ron Estes (R-KS), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Mike Carey (R-OH), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Max Miller (R-OH), Adrian Smith (R-NE), and David Schweikert (R-AZ).
“South Korea must honor the commitments it made with President Trump and his administration by opening its public sector cloud market to American providers. Korea’s current approach unfairly shuts U.S. companies out of a growing market and weakens American leadership in critical technologies. These discriminatory barriers violate our trade agreements and undermine fair competition. I am happy to lead this effort, and I thank my colleagues for joining me in holding Korea accountable,” said Congresswoman Carol Miller.
Industry representatives also weighed in on the issue. Brian McMillan, Vice President of Federal Affairs at the Computer & Communications Industry Association, stated: “Representative Miller’s support for opening up Korea’s public sector cloud market is a welcome voice in addressing a decade-long problem that results in U.S. firms being unfairly denied access to a growing market—access critical to U.S. technological leadership, including in the global adoption of AI. We welcome attention to this issue by Congress and engagement by USTR, helping to ensure that U.S. firms can compete on fair terms in the Korean market.”
Daniel Castro, Vice President for the Center for Data Innovation at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, commented: “South Korea’s Cloud Security Assurance Program is a non-tariff attack: a policy wrapped in the language of cybersecurity that in practice shuts American cloud providers out of a large and growing public sector market. Ambassador Greer should make clear that discriminatory barriers like CSAP are incompatible with the commitments Seoul made in the Strategic Trade and Investment Deal.”
The Business Software Alliance added: “The Business Software Alliance appreciates Rep. Miller’s and cosigners’ leadership on ensuring that the Republic of Korea’s Cloud Security Assurance Program does not pose an artificial barrier to cloud service and AI adoption. We appreciate their constructive engagement with all stakeholders to support timely, workable solutions that uphold strong security outcomes while avoiding discriminatory or unnecessarily trade restrictive outcomes.”
Jason Oxman, President and CEO of ITI said: “ITI appreciates the leadership of Congresswoman Carol Miller and her colleagues in sending this letter urging USTR Ambassador Greer to raise the Republic of Korea’s Cloud Security Assurance Program (CSAP) in the ongoing U.S.-Korea trade talks. The CSAP certification requirements continue to pose a barrier to trade for U.S. cloud service providers. Robust U.S. technological leadership depends in part on ensuring fair market access, and we welcome Congress’ efforts to promote consistency and reciprocity among U.S. trade partners.”
Currently, South Korean policy restricts foreign cloud providers based on data sensitivity levels; only low-sensitivity government data such as public information or front-facing websites may be stored by American firms. The National Intelligence Service is reportedly moving toward formalizing rules that would further limit foreign involvement through strict data localization requirements—a move critics say conflicts with existing agreements such as KORUS FTA and accords negotiated during former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Carol Miller has represented West Virginia’s 1st district since 2019 after succeeding Evan Jenkins; she previously served over a decade in West Virginia’s House of Delegates from 2006 until 2018.
She was born in Columbus, Ohio, currently lives in Huntington, West Virginia, is 72 years old as of 2022, and earned her BA from Columbia College in South Carolina.
