Praise Trump and speak simply: How the South Korean team negotiated its trade deal
Among the advice they received? Call Trump a "great person" and speak as simply as possible, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told reporters in Washington after the deal was announced on Wednesday.
The stakes were particularly high for South Korea, a major export-driven economy, and Kim and other members of the delegation have only been on the job for a few weeks after President Lee Jae Myung won a snap election in June.
Kim called Trump a "master of negotiations" and said each of the team, which included Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo, took turns role-playing as the U.S. president to prepare.
"We tried to talk like President Trump, and President Trump's way of talking is very terse and straightforward," Kim said. "We prepared a lot of scenarios on our own on how to answer this or that question."
Koo said the team only knew for sure they would be meeting Trump when they saw it on social media.
The meeting itself went for about half an hour and the two sides went back and forth on the amount of the investment fund, which was eventually settled at $350 billion, Koo said.
"We collected a lot of negotiation strategies used by our counterparts in advance and thought a lot about how to respond, so the negotiation was very smooth," he said.
Yeo quoted Trump as saying his personal involvement is rare in dealing with officials who are not heads of state, and means "he respects South Korea very much and attaches great importance to South Korea."
Earlier in the talks the U.S. had pressed South Korea to lift restrictions on imports derived from cattle older than 30 months, but Yeo helped defuse that by showing the Americans a photo of massive protests that occurred years ago over concerns about mad cow disease.
"I think it helped them to understand the situation in Korea," Kim said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Shipping giant Clarksons profits fall as Trump tariffs and turmoil in the Middle East hit demand
Shipping giant Clarkson suffered a hit to profits as trade tariffs and turmoil in the Middle East hit demand. Boss Andi Case blamed the 'highly complex global environment' after profit fell to £37.5million in the six months to June from £50.1million the previous year. Donald Trump's tariffs, followed by a chaotic 'shifting' of the levies, meant exporters held off shipping goods. Sales were down to £298million from £310million in 2024. The decline followed a warning in March that rising global tensions were likely to hit performance. It has also been affected by wars in Gaza and the wider Middle East, which caused many clients to pause long-term contracts.
Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trading Day: Stocks bounce back, bonds more cautious
ORLANDO, Florida, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Investors shrugged off last week's worries over the U.S. economy to drive a powerful, tech-led rebound across global stocks on Monday, although U.S. Treasuries prices held onto Friday's gains, suggesting a fair degree of caution persists. More on all that below. In my column today I look at why rather than firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, President Donald Trump could have claimed that the weak jobs data and dramatic market reaction vindicated his stance that the Fed should cut rates. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Today's Key Market Moves Stocks bounce back, bonds more cautious After getting slammed on Friday by unexpectedly poor U.S. employment figures, U.S. and world stocks rebounded on Monday. Whether this is a short-term technical recovery or the resumption of the bull run of recent months remains to be seen. In isolation, the positive start to the week has been pretty impressive. Wall Street more than recovered the ground it lost on Friday, led by the Nasdaq and Russell 2000, as investors bet that both tech and small caps would be among the big winners in a lower interest rate world. The global recovery was probably overdue. The MSCI All Country index's rise on Monday snapped a six-session losing streak, its worst run in nearly two years. While Friday's slump in U.S. bond yields reflected deepening growth fears and contributed to the huge equity selloff, the further drift lower in yields on Monday supported equity sentiment. The feel good factor could prove fleeting though. The U.S.-centric issues that drove last week's selloff - growth fears, tariff concerns and unusually high levels of policy uncertainty - haven't disappeared. Trump said on Monday he will substantially raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, while Switzerland says it is ready to make a "more attractive offer" to Washington to avert the steep 39% tariffs it is facing. Investors are increasingly nervous about political interference in independent U.S. institutions after Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer for allegedly rigging the jobs data. This comes amid Trump's verbal attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates, and as he prepares to announce his nomination to replace Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who surprisingly resigned on Friday. Looking ahead to Tuesday, the U.S. earnings calendar heats up again and purchasing managers index data will give an insight into how the service sectors in many of the world's major economies fared in July. Trump scores major own goal with labor official firing U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to fire a top labor official following weak jobs data obviously sends ominous signals about political interference in independent institutions, but it is also a major strategic own goal. Trump has spent six months attacking the Federal Reserve, and Chair Jerome Powell in particular, for not cutting interest rates. The barbs culminated in Trump branding Powell a "stubborn MORON" in a social media post on Friday before the July jobs report was released. The numbers, especially the net downward revision of 258,000 for May and June payrolls growth, were much weaker than expected. In fact, this was "the largest two-month revision since 1968 outside of NBER-defined recessions (assuming the economy is not in recession now)," according to Goldman Sachs. This sparked a dramatic reaction in financial markets. Fed rate cut expectations soared, the two-year Treasury yield had its steepest fall in a year, and the dollar tumbled. A quarter-point rate cut next month and another by December were suddenly nailed-on certainties, according to rate futures market pricing. This was a huge U-turn from only 48 hours before, when Powell's hawkish steer in his post-FOMC meeting press conference raised the prospect of no easing at all this year. Trump's constant lambasting of "Too Late" Powell suddenly appeared to have a bit more substance behind it. The Fed chair's rate cut caution centers on the labor market, which now appears nowhere near as "solid" as he thought. Trump could have responded by saying: "I was right, and Powell was wrong." Instead, on Friday afternoon he said he was firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, for faking the jobs numbers. Trump provided no evidence of data manipulation. So rather than point out that markets were finally coming around to his way of thinking on the need for lower interest rates, Trump has united economists, analysts and investors in condemnation of what they say is brazen political interference typically associated with underdeveloped and unstable nations rather than the self-proclaimed 'leader of the free world.' "A dark day in, and for, the U.S.," economist Phil Suttle wrote on Friday. "This is the sort of thing only the worst populists do in the worst emerging economies and, to use the style of President Trump, IT NEVER ENDS WELL." It's important to note that major – even historic – revisions to jobs growth figures are not necessarily indicative of underlying data collection flaws. As Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Budget Lab at Yale, argued on X over the weekend: "BLS's first-release estimates of non-farm payroll employment have gotten more, not less, accurate over time." It should also be noted that the BLS compiles inflation as well as employment data, so, moving forward, significant doubt could surround the credibility of the two most important economic indicators for the U.S. - and perhaps the world. Part of what constitutes "U.S. exceptionalism" is the assumption that the experts leading the country's independent institutions are exactly that, independent, meaning their actions and output can be trusted, whatever the results. Baseless accusations from the U.S. president that the BLS, the Fed and other agencies are making politically motivated decisions to undermine his administration only undermine trust in the U.S. itself. "If doubts are sustained, it will lead investors to demand more of a risk premium to own U.S. assets," says Rebecca Patterson, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "While only one of many forces driving asset valuations, it will limit returns across markets." This furor comes as Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's resignation on Friday gives Trump the chance to put a third nominee on the seven-person Fed board, perhaps a potential future chair to fill that slot as a holding place until Powell's term expires in May. Whoever that person is will likely be more of a policy dove than a hawk. Policy uncertainty, which had been gradually subsiding since the April 2 'Liberation Day' tariff turmoil, is now very much back on investors' radar. What could move markets tomorrow? Want to receive Trading Day in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for my newsletter here. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Argentina's Javier Milei vetoes bills that would have raised pensions and disability benefits
Argentina's president, Javier Milei, has vetoed three bills that would have increased pensions and disability benefits, prompting outrage from both groups and the lawmakers who had approved the measures. The self-styled anarcho-capitalist claimed the bills would 'break the government's fiscal balance' and insisted there was 'no money' to fund the measures, which Congress had approved in early July. Pensioners have been among the hardest hit by Milei's so-called 'chainsaw' austerity drive and have been holding weekly demonstrations outside Congress every Wednesday, come rain or shine. Overriding the presidential veto would require a two-thirds majority in parliament. Should that happen, Milei has already announced he intends to challenge the bills in court. 'It's impossible to survive on a minimum pension,' said Eduardo Barnei, 79, from Berazategui on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, who said he received 370,000 pesos last month (about £205), including a 70,000-peso bonus. One of the bills vetoed by Milei proposed a 7.2% increase for all pensions and would have raised the monthly bonus to 110,000 pesos. Even with the adjustment, the total would still fall well short of the 1,200,523 pesos (£662) that the Defensoría de la Tercera Edad – an ombudsman for older people – estimates as the minimum monthly cost of living for a pensioner. '[Last month] I had to spend more than 100,000 pesos on medicine, another 80,000 on gas and electricity, and now I have to survive on what's left. It's just not possible,' said Barnei, who began working at 15 and continued until his retirement at 68. 'Life is very difficult,' said Edda Beitia, 77, from the Greater Buenos Aires area, who has been attending the weekly pensioners' protests – often outnumbered by security forces including military, federal and naval police, who try to stop them from blocking roads, frequently using force, teargas and rubber bullets. In March, after football supporters joined pensioners in protest, 124 demonstrators were detained and 46 people were injured in clashes with security forces – among them a photographer who was seriously wounded after being struck in the head by a teargas canister. 'I keep coming to the protests every week because I think of all the pensioners who, like me, are struggling. This fight is a collective fight,' said Beitia. Milei also vetoed a law that would have allowed women over 60 and men over 65 to retire even if they had not completed the required 30 years of pension contributions. The third bill would have established a pension for people with disabilities and granted access to a medical care programme – but it too was entirely vetoed by the far-right president. The government argued the new laws would result in additional spending of more than 7tn pesos (£3.8bn) in 2025 and about 17tn pesos (£9.3bn) in 2026, describing the measures as 'irresponsible' for failing to specify the source of funding. 'And even if the veto were overturned, we'll take it to court,' Milei said three weeks ago. In a statement on Monday, the government declared: 'There is no money, and the only way to make Argentina great again is through effort and honesty – not by repeating the same old recipes.' Several lawmakers condemned the government's decision. Senator Pablo Blanco called it 'regrettable and shameful', while Senator Oscar Parrilli described it as 'a policy of cruelty towards the most vulnerable sectors of society'. 'We are barely surviving but many of us now have to help our children who have lost their jobs,' said pensionist Beitia. 'I also think about all the young people who will never get to retire. The government should be ashamed of themselves for what they are doing.'
