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Trump announces trade deal with South Korea | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A similar agreement between Washington and Brussels was widely criticized as a one‑sided “submission” | |
President Donald Trump has announced that the US has finalized a trade deal with South Korea that features a 15% tariff on imports from Seoul. In addition, South Korea has pledged $350 billion in US-controlled investments and $100 billion in purchases of American energy products. | |
Trump boasted in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday that US goods would not be subjected to any reciprocal tariffs, calling it a “Full and Complete Trade Deal” designed to “stabilize economic relations” with a key Asian ally. | Trump boasted in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday that US goods would not be subjected to any reciprocal tariffs, calling it a “Full and Complete Trade Deal” designed to “stabilize economic relations” with a key Asian ally. |
South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung described the outcome as the result of careful preparation, claiming in a Facebook post that Seoul “gathered diverse opinions and refined our strategies” before reaching the agreement. | South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung described the outcome as the result of careful preparation, claiming in a Facebook post that Seoul “gathered diverse opinions and refined our strategies” before reaching the agreement. |
Lee argued that the $350 billion investment in the American economy will promote Korean industrial access to the US market in sectors such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, secondary batteries, biotechnology, and energy. | |
In 2024, South Korea exported $132 billion in goods to the US – with automobiles, semiconductors, and electronics among the top categories – while US exports to South Korea totaled $66 billion, mainly industrial machinery, oil, and gas, according to Commerce Department data. This created a $66 billion US trade deficit in goods, excluding services, which would narrow the gap when included. | |
Washington’s agreement with Seoul is part of a broader strategy in which similar deals were secured with the UK, Japan, EU, and other countries ahead of Trump’s self-imposed August 1 tariff deadline. South Korea briefly faced a 25% “reciprocal” tariff in April, but the final 15% rate still exceeds the 10% baseline now applied to many other nations. | |
The EU faces a similar rate under its deal finalized last week – an arrangement critics described as a unilateral “submission” to US demands. Even a White House advisor characterized it as the bloc “bending the knee” before Trump. |
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