A strong U.S. response is necessary to counter the South Korean government's targeting of American businesses and citizens through new trade laws, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote Monday in an opinion piece for the Daily Caller.

Competere Foundation, a nonprofit that educates policymakers on nontariff barriers affecting global GDP, in October said South Korea's strict competition rules aimed at U.S. tech firms could cost American companies nearly $525 billion in economic growth over 10 years.

"That's about $4,000 per American household and taken directly from our country's workers, families, and economy," Issa wrote.

Americans, he said, "believe in free and fair trade, not global anti-competitiveness that tilts a level playing field against the most innovative American companies in the world."

According to a report released in early November by the National Bureau of Asian Research, several U.S. firms operating in South Korea have been subject to multiple investigations almost regularly, while others encountered more occasional scrutiny.

"Interview findings indicate that [Korea's Fair Trade Commission's] enforcement practices are clearly protectionist when compared with those of other jurisdictions," the report said.

Issa said the Trump administration "has been warning Korea that continuing to advance harmful policies against American companies would blow up the trade agreement, trigger U.S. government trade investigations, and harm our essential bilateral ties."

President Donald Trump last week met with South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Kang Kyung-wha and said he was maintaining "the best cooperative relationship with President Lee Jae-myung."

Issa said a strong U.S. response is needed to the trade laws.

"Korea is a great nation, and we cherish the partnership our nations have shared for eight decades, but Congress and our country can't ignore intentional economic harm and damage to American innovation disguised as conventional global regulation," he wrote for the Daily Caller.

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