Trade Trump announces agreement with South Korea on 15 percent tariffs
In the trade dispute with South Korea, US President Donald Trump has announced an agreement on tariffs of 15 percent on imports from the country. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung spoke of a "major hurdle" that had been overcome.
31.07.2025, 00:56
31.07.2025, 04:31
SDA
Trump announced a "comprehensive trade agreement" in his online service Truth Social on Wednesday (local time). "South Korea will provide the US with 350 billion dollars for investment" and buy 100 billion dollars worth of liquefied natural gas or other energy products, Trump wrote. The country will also accept American products such as cars and agricultural products.
The rate of 15 percent is lower than the 25 percent tariff Trump had previously threatened for goods from South Korea, which was due to come into force on Friday. It corresponds to the rate previously set in US trade agreements with the EU and Japan. According to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, this tariff will also apply to car imports. The USA will not be burdened with tariffs, Trump wrote.
Trump also stated that South Korea would invest a further "large sum of money". "This amount will be announced within the next two weeks when South Korean President Lee Jae Myung comes to the White House for a bilateral meeting," Trump added in the online service.
It will be the first meeting between Trump and South Korea's newly elected president in June. Lee's predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, was removed from office in December due to a brief declaration of martial law.
South Korea wants to eliminate uncertainty
Lee described the agreement with the USA as "the first major trade policy challenge" since taking office. "We have overcome a major hurdle," he explained on Facebook.
"With this agreement, the government has removed uncertainty about export conditions and ensured that US tariffs on our exports are either lower or equal to the tariffs imposed on our major trade competitors," Lee explained.
South Korea belongs to the "Group of 20" (G20), which brings together 19 of the strongest economies from all regions of the world alongside the European Union and the African Union.
Negotiations provoked
Trump sparked a tariff conflict with trading partners around the world at the beginning of April. He announced high import surcharges for numerous countries, but then lowered them to ten percent in order to conduct negotiations. However, some products were already subject to higher tariffs, such as steel and aluminum products, which were already subject to an import surcharge of 50 percent.
In addition to the agreement on tariffs of 15 percent for South Korea, Trump also announced tariffs of 25 percent on imports from India on Wednesday. Furthermore, as previously threatened, he imposed tariffs of 50 percent on imports from Brazil - a punitive measure due to the trial against the ultra-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Switzerland is currently waiting for a response from the US government regarding import duties on Swiss products. The decision currently lies with the USA, said President of the Swiss Confederation Karin Keller-Sutter in an interview with Swiss radio and television on Wednesday.
