Top South Korean Official in US Again as Tariff Deadline Looms
Wi Sung-lac departed for the US 'to engage in various negotiations with US officials,' Woo Sang-ho, a senior presidential secretary, told reporters Sunday. 'This may not be the last time, and it could continue,' Woo said, adding that the top security official 'will visit the US whenever he deems it necessary for the overall negotiations.'
While it remains unclear who Wi is scheduled to meet in Washington, the trip is widely viewed as a bid to bridge differences and finalize a trade agreement with the US, South Korea's biggest source of trade surplus. Talks have been delayed by months of political gridlock in Seoul, leaving South Korea racing to catch up on lost negotiating time.
The US is preparing to impose 25% across-the-board tariffs on South Korean goods starting Aug. 1, up from the current 10%. In addition, sector-specific duties targeting cars, steel, and aluminum remain in place.
President Lee Jae Myung's new ministers for foreign affairs, finance and industry took office Monday after winning rare bipartisan support amid growing concerns over a lack of a deal. The main opposition People Power Party said they approved Lee's picks because the US tariff negotiations could no longer be delayed with the country's economy hinging on the talks' results.
Wi said South Korea's goal is to lower the tariffs by some percentage points, local media Hankyoreh reported citing Wi's comments before his departure. Newly appointed Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol are also arranging a US visit, Yonhap News said.
The diplomatic push comes as the Lee administration rolled out a 31.8 trillion won supplementary budget to bolster growth and mitigate trade-related risks. South Korea's economy contracted in the first quarter, and the central bank has cut interest rates to 2.5% while slashing its growth forecast to 0.8%.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
16 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Samsung gains momentum with Tesla tie-up, tariff agreement reduces uncertainty
Samsung Electronics said a trade deal between South Korea and Washington will help to alleviate business uncertainty, as the technology giant forecast more major chip orders after signing a $16.5 billion deal with Elon Musk's Tesla. Samsung sees relief from US tariff deal, expects boost from $16.5B Tesla chip order.(Bloomberg) U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea as part of the deal that eases, for now, tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally. Imports from South Korea, a powerhouse exporter of computer chips, cars and steel, had faced a 25% rate. The tariff deal comes days after Tesla said it had signed a deal to source chips from Samsung, a move that analysts said could help the tech giant's struggling contract business. "Building on this milestone, we anticipate securing additional orders from large customers," Samsung Vice President Noh Mi-jung said on an earnings call, referring to its struggling contract chipmaking business. Samsung's new U.S. semiconductor factory in Texas, which is expected to make chips for Tesla, is on track to begin production in 2026, she said. "The key to the Tesla order is how much Samsung would be able to address production yield issues for its advanced 2 nanometer chips," said Greg Roh, head of research at Hyundai Motor Securities. The Texas project is central to Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee's strategy of expanding beyond its bread-and-butter memory chip business into high-end contract chip manufacturing, which is dominated by Taiwan's TSMC. Noh's comments came after the company posted 4.7 trillion won ($3.37 billion) in operating profit for the April-June period, its weakest earnings in six quarters. That was roughly in line with an earlier estimate that had disappointed investors. The South Korean tech giant forecast a gradual second-half recovery for its overall business, without providing further details. Second-quarter operating profit at its chip division plunged 94% from a year earlier, it said, hurt by delays in supplying the latest AI chips to Nvidia and U.S. export curbs on advanced semiconductor sales to China. Focus on AI chips Prolonged weakness in Samsung's performance has deepened investor concerns over the South Korean company's ability to catch up with smaller rivals like SK Hynix in developing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI data centres and sold to customers including Nvidia. Last October, Samsung said it was making progress on a major deal to supply HBM3E chips to an unidentified customer that analysts said was Nvidia. Samsung on Tuesday did not give an update to the plan, while warning that the supply of HBM3E chips has been growing faster than demand, which would affect pricing. The tech giant said it has also provided samples of its next-generation HBM4 chips to customers, with a plan to supply them next year. Customers for this chip are also expected to include Nvidia, analysts said. Samsung said on Thursday it expected the industry environment would improve in the second half of the year, driven by AI chip demand due to continued investments by major cloud service providers. Meta Platforms and Microsoft on Wednesday pointed to strong AI chip demand and major investments in data centres in their earnings announcements. Samsung said there were also some concerns about slowing global growth due to an uncertain trade environment and geopolitical risks. "We believe that the uncertainty has been reduced through the conclusion of negotiations between the United States and South Korea," Samsung Chief Financial Officer Park Soon-cheol said after Trump announced the trade deal. Park said Samsung was closely monitoring a U.S. national security probe into imports of semiconductors and electronics such as smartphones, tablets and PCs, which he said could have a significant impact on its businesses. Samsung's second-quarter revenue rose 0.7% to 74.6 trillion won, in line with its earlier estimate of 74 trillion won. Its chip division posted a profit of 400 billion won during the quarter, down from 6.5 trillion won a year earlier, marking the first time in six quarters the figure has dropped below the 1 trillion won mark. Samsung said in a statement inventory value adjustments to memory chips and one-off costs from the impact of U.S. export restrictions on sales to China on its contract chipmaking business lowered the division's profit. Samsung said smartphone demand, which had rebounded in the first half thanks to stockpiling ahead of U.S. tariffs and China subsidies, is expected to see slowing growth in the second half. For TVs, Samsung expected demand to slightly decline due to inflation and economic uncertainty in the second half from a year earlier. Shares of Samsung were down 1.8% in early afternoon trade, underperforming the benchmark KOSPI index, which was 0.5% lower. ($1 = 1,393.4100 won)
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
US To Impose 15% Tariff On South Korean Goods: Trump
United States: President Donald Trump said Wednesday the United States will impose a 15 percent tariff on imports from South Korea, as he touted a "full and complete trade deal" between the two countries. "South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding that the country would buy $100 billion in liquefied natural gas or other energy products. I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has agreed to a Full and Complete Trade Deal with the Republic of Korea. The Deal is that South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and… — Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) July 30, 2025 The 15 percent rate is below a 25 percent tariff that Trump had threatened earlier, and was equivalent to deals with Japan and the European Union. Trump added that an additional unspecified "large sum of money" will be invested by Seoul. "This sum will be announced within the next two weeks when the President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, comes to the White House for a Bilateral Meeting," Trump said, offering congratulations to his South Korean counterpart for his "electoral success." South Korea's Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Seoul's commitment to help the United States revive its shipbuilding industry was instrumental in reaching the deal. "I believe MASGA made the greatest contribution to reaching today's agreement," Koo said at a news conference in Washington, referring to the "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again" proposal. "Our world-class shipbuilding companies, equipped with the highest level of ship design and construction capabilities, are expected to help revive the US shipbuilding industry," he said. Shares in South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, which owns a shipyard in Philadelphia, soared more than 15 percent on Thursday. The leaders' White House meeting will be their first since Lee assumed the presidency in June. In a statement on Facebook, Lee called the deal "the first major trade challenge" since his administration took power, adding: "We have overcome a major hurdle." "Through this deal, the government has eliminated uncertainty surrounding export conditions and ensured that US tariffs on our exports are either lower than or equal to those imposed on our major trade competitors." Mixed reaction Lee was elected in a snap vote last month following the impeachment of predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol over his disastrous martial law declaration in December. The deal marks an early victory for Lee's tenure as head of the export-reliant economy, Asia's fourth biggest. "This agreement represents the convergence of US interests in revitalizing its manufacturing sector and our determination to strengthen Korean companies' competitiveness in the American market," Lee's statement continued. But there were mixed reactions in South Korea. Its six major business associations, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce, said in a joint statement: "We view this agreement as a critical milestone that will not only ease trade-related uncertainties but also pave the way for a significant strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries. "With much of the external uncertainty now resolved, the Korean business community will redouble efforts to boost domestic investment and job creation." But a handful of civic groups, including farmers and labour organisations, protested at the US Embassy in central Seoul, opposing "Trump's madman strategy." Demonstrators held signs reading "No Trump! No King!" and pointed out that there may be additional negotiations when Lee meets Trump. "Trump's actions amount to excessive interference in our domestic affairs," said Park Sung-hoon, head of the Korean Apple Growers Association. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff on trading partners -- with extra rates for dozens of economies set for August 1 -- alongside steeper tolls on steel, aluminium and autos. News of the deal with South Korea came as Trump on Wednesday imposed 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods and 50 percent on those from Brazil.
India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
Samsung launches Galaxy Book 4 Edge, its most affordable laptop in India with Qualcomm chip and 27-hr battery life
Samsung today launched the Galaxy Book 4 Edge ARM-based Windows laptop in India at a price of Rs 64,990. The Edge comes powered by Qualcomm's entry-level Snapdragon X mobile processor and 16GB of RAM by default. The launch has taken a while as the Galaxy Book 4 Edge broke cover internationally in September last year. Samsung has since gone on to launch its next-generation Galaxy Book 5 series in the country. Regardless, the Galaxy Book 4 Edge is the most affordable laptop in Samsung's portfolio currently and that is perhaps, its biggest USPs. Being a Galaxy laptop, it comes as no surprise that, the Galaxy Book 4 Edge has a premium design and some high-end specs including a 15.6-inch antiglare display, Wi-Fi 7, and up to 27 hours of battery life – or at least that is the number Samsung is quoting. It is slim and lightweight coming in at just 1.5kg. The chassis is sleek and minimal with a 'metallic luster.' It comes in sole Arctic Blue colour. Powering the Galaxy Book 4 Edge is Qualcomm's 8-core Snapdragon X ARM-based chip with a maximum clock speed of 3.0GHz and a 45TOPS NPU for AI tasks and seamless productivity on the go. RAM is 16GB. It is of the LPDDR5X type. It has 512GB of eUFS storage. Running the show is Windows 11 software. Connectivity options include 1x HDMI 2.1 (4K@60Hz supported), 1xUSB3.2, 2xUSB4.0, MicroSD card reader, headphone out/mic-in combo, Bluetooth 5.4, and Wi-Fi 7. Rounding off the package are stereo speakers capable of Dolby Atmos playback, dual microphones, 1080p webcam, and fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Finally, it has a 61.2Wh battery and ships with 65W USB Type-C charger in the box. The Galaxy Book 4 Edge is available starting today at a price of Rs 64,990 for a version with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. For a limited period, Samsung is offering 5,000 cashback offer on major banks bringing the price of the laptop down to a net effective Rs 59,990. It is available across Samsung online, Flipkart, Samsung Shop app, Samsung experience stores and select retail outlets across the country.- Ends advertisement
