South Korea's new President Lee, Trump agree to work towards swift tariff deal
SEOUL/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung agreed to work toward a swift tariff deal in their first phone call since the Democratic Party leader was elected earlier this week, Lee's office said on Friday (Jun 6).
Trump has imposed tariffs on South Korea, a long time ally with which it has a bilateral free trade deal, and pressed it to pay more for the 28,500 US troops stationed there.
Separately, Trump allies have aired concerns about Lee's more conciliatory stance towards China, Washington's main geopolitical rival.
Lee, a liberal, was elected on Jun 3 after former conservative leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached and ousted.
The future of South Korea's export-oriented economy may hinge on what kind of deal Lee can strike with Trump, with all of his country's key sectors from chips to autos and shipbuilding heavily exposed to global trade. His term began on Wednesday.
"The two presidents agreed to make an effort to reach a satisfactory agreement on tariff consultations as soon as possible that both countries can be satisfied with," Lee's office said in a statement.
"To this end, they decided to encourage working-level negotiations to yield tangible results."
Trump invited Lee to a summit in the US and they plan to meet soon, according to a White House official. Analysts say the first opportunity for the two to meet could be at a G7 summit in Canada in mid-June.
Lee's office said the two leaders also discussed the assassination attempts they both experienced last year as well as their enthusiasm for golf.
Lee underwent surgery after he was stabbed in the neck by a man in January last year, while Trump was wounded in the ear by a bullet fired by a would-be assassin in July.
South Korea, a major US ally and one of the first countries after Japan to engage with Washington on trade talks, agreed in late April to craft a "July package" scrapping levies before the 90-day pause on Trump's reciprocal tariffs is lifted, but progress was disrupted by the change of governments in Seoul.
Lee said on the eve of the elections that "the most pressing matter is trade negotiations with the United States." Lee's camp has said, however, that they intend to seek more time to negotiate on trade with Trump.
While reiterating the importance of the US-South Korea alliance, Lee has also expressed more conciliatory plans for ties with China and North Korea, singling out the importance of China as a major trading partner while indicating a reluctance to take a firm stance on security tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Political analysts say that while Trump and Lee may share a desire to try to re-engage with North Korea, Lee's stance on China could cause friction with the US.
A White House official said this week that South Korea's election was fair, but expressed concern about Chinese interference in what analysts said may have been a cautionary message to Lee.
Speaking in Singapore last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said many countries were tempted by the idea of seeking economic cooperation with China and defense cooperation with the United States, and warned that such entanglement complicated defense cooperation.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
China says it may speed up rare earths application approvals from EU
SHANGHAI: China is willing to accelerate the examination and approval of rare earth exports to European Union firms and will also deliver a verdict on its trade investigation of EU brandy imports by July 5, its commerce ministry said on Saturday (Jun 7). Price commitment consultations between China and the EU on Chinese-made electric vehicles exported to the EU have also entered a final stage but efforts from both sides are still needed, according to a statement on the Chinese Commerce Ministry's website. The issues were discussed between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic in Paris on Tuesday, according to the statement. Most recently, China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. The ministry said China attached great importance to the EU's concerns and "was willing to establish a green channel for qualified applications to speed up the approval process". In a separate statement the commerce ministry issued later on Saturday, it said China was willing to further strengthen communication and dialogue with relevant countries on rare earth export controls as it recognised that demand from sectors such as robotics and electric vehicles had risen. BRANDY, EVS The ministry earlier said that Commerce Minister Wang during the meeting "expressed the hope that the EU will meet us halfway and take effective measures to facilitate, safeguard and promote compliant trade in high-tech products to China". Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39 per cent on imports of European brandy - with French cognac bearing the brunt - have also strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the EU took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of "pure retaliation". The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands including LVMH's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the brandy duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China's Commerce Ministry said on Saturday that French companies and relevant associations had proactively submitted applications on price commitments for brandy to China and that Chinese investigators had reached an agreement with them on the core terms. Chinese authorities were now reviewing the complete text on those commitments and would issue a final announcement before July 5, it said. In April, the European Commission said the EU and China had also agreed to look into setting minimum prices of Chinese-made electric vehicles instead of tariffs imposed by the EU last year.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
This win is for Americans who look like me, says French Open champion Gauff
PARIS : Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil. Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open. She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015. "It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there's a lot going on in our country right now with things - like, everything, yeah. I'm sure you guys know," she said, smiling but without elaborating further. "But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don't feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people." There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year. Trump's first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unravelling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalised groups in a matter of weeks. In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of colour and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and women-owned businesses. The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on levelling the playing field for marginalised communities. "I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) 'just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for'. "So that's what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy). "Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I'm definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I'm proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support."
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump says Department of Justice made decision to bring back Abrego Garcia
An exterior view of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from Maryland, U.S., to El Salvador by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, faces criminal charges, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Seth Herald People watch aircrafts at Mons. Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, from where Kilmar Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. after being deported from Maryland, U.S., to El Salvador by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas A Homeland Security vehicle stands in front of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building, housing the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from Maryland, U.S., to El Salvador by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, faces criminal charges, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Seth Herald An aircraft prepares to take off on the tarmac at Mons. Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, from where Kilmar Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. after being deported from Maryland, U.S., to El Salvador by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas A Homeland Security Police officer stands outside the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building, housing the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from Maryland, U.S., to El Salvador by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, faces criminal charges, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Seth Herald U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday it was the Department of Justice, not him, that made the decision to bring back to the U.S. a man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was flown back to face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the U.S., Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday. His return marked an inflection point in a case seized on by critics of Trump's immigration crackdown as a sign that his administration was disregarding civil liberties in its push to step up deportations of migrants. "Well, that wasn't my decision. The Department of Justice decided to do it that way, and that's fine," Trump told NBC News in an interview when asked about Abrego Garcia's return. Trump added that he had not spoken to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele about the move. Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran whose wife and young child in Maryland are U.S. citizens, appeared in federal court in Nashville on Friday evening. His arraignment was set for June 13, when he will enter a plea, according to local media reports. Until then, he will remain in federal custody. If convicted, he would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, Bondi said. The Trump administration has said Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation that his lawyers deny. Abrego Garcia was deported on March 15, more than two months before the charges were filed. He was briefly held in a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, despite a U.S. immigration judge's 2019 order barring him from being sent to the Central American nation because he would likely be persecuted by gangs. Trump said he thought it would be "a very easy case" against Abrego Garcia, who he accused of having a "horrible record of abuse" of women. Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, has called the criminal charges "fantastical." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
