US tariffs on South Korean imports have been raised to 25% by Trump
US President Donald Trump said he will increase tariffs on imports from South Korea to 25%, alleging that Seoul has failed to fully honor a trade agreement signed last year.
In a social media post, Trump said he would increase tariffs on South Korea to 15% on a range of products, including automobiles, timber, pharmaceuticals, and “all other reciprocal tariffs.”
Trump said South Korean lawmakers had delayed approving the deal, while “we have moved quickly to lower our TARIFFS as per the agreed transaction.”
South Korea said it had not been officially informed of the decision to raise tariffs on some of its goods and that it wanted to hold immediate talks with Washington on the issue.
It also said that South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, currently in Canada, would travel to Washington as soon as possible to meet with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi stock index fell on Tuesday morning but later recovered, trading up about 1.8% on gains in shares of major exporters.
A deal was struck between Seoul and Washington last October, in which South Korea pledged to invest $350 billion (£256 billion) in the US, some of which would be spent on shipbuilding.
The following month, the two countries agreed that the US would lower tariffs on some products after South Korea began the process of ratifying the deal.
The agreement was submitted to South Korea’s National Assembly on November 26 and is currently under review. According to local media, it is expected to be passed in February.
Tariffs are paid by the companies that import the products. In this case, US companies would pay a 25% tax on goods purchased from South Korea.
Trump has frequently used tariffs to implement his foreign policy during his second term in the White House. On Saturday, he threatened Canada with 100% tariffs if it pursued a trade deal with China. On Monday, Chinese officials said that its “strategic partnership” agreement with Canada is not intended to belittle other countries.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that his country is not pursuing a free trade deal with China and has “never” even considered one.
He added that Canadian officials have clarified their position to their American counterparts.
Earlier, Trump had said he would impose import tariffs on eight countries, including the UK, that opposed the US plan to acquire Greenland. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO member.
He later backed down from the tariff threat against Greenland, saying that progress had been made toward a “future deal” regarding the island, but the incident strained US relations with Denmark and other NATO allies.
