What we know about South Korea's trade deal with the US

Reuters

2 days ago

SEOUL, July 31 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the U.S. would charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea as part of an agreement to avoid even higher levies.
The deal includes a $350 billion investment in the U.S. by the Asian trade partner, but other non-tariff barriers, as well as security and foreign exchange issues, were left out.
The deal reduces U.S. tariffs on South Korean autos from 25% to 15%, the same rate as on Japan and the European Union.
Trump said South Korea would also accept American cars and trucks into its markets and impose no import duties on them.
South Korea already imposes zero tariffs on manufactured goods under a free trade agreement, according to the finance ministry.
Seoul said the countries would continue negotiations on safety regulations for U.S. imports of autos, a factor that Washington has cited as a non-tariff barrier.
The United States agreed that South Korean firms would not be put at a disadvantage compared with other countries over upcoming tariffs on chips and pharmaceutical products, while retaining 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Trump said South Korea would invest $350 billion in the United States in projects "owned and controlled by the United States" and selected by Trump.
South Korea said $150 billion has been earmarked for shipbuilding cooperation, while investments in chips, batteries, biotechnology and nuclear energy cooperation accounted for the remaining $200 billion fund.
Loans and guarantees would account for a majority of the fund, while direct investments would represent a small portion, South Korean officials said, adding there were also "safeguards" such as purchase guarantees under the plan.
Asked about fund details, South Korean presidential adviser Kim Yong-beom said the structures had not been specified and that "ambiguity is good".
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said 90% of profits would go to the American people, while Kim said he understood this as meaning "re-investment" in the U.S., not repatriated.
Trump said South Korea would purchase $100 billion of liquefied natural gas or other energy products, which South Korea said would mean a slight shift in energy imports from the Middle East in the next four years.
In relation to a $44 billion Alaska gas project pushed by Trump, South Korean officials have expressed caution, citing the feasibility of the project.
Trump said South Korea would accept American farm products into its markets without duties.
South Korea has already opened 99.7% of its market, with some 10 products left out as exceptions, such as politically sensitive rice, according to the presidential office.
Kim said there was no agreement to open up the rice and beef markets.
South Korea, the world's biggest buyer of U.S. beef, is set to lower tariffs to zero by 2026 under the free trade pact, but restricts imports derived from animals older than 30 months, citing concerns over mad cow disease.
Still, the two countries agreed to continue negotiations over non-tariff barriers such as food safety control.
South Korea's proposed legislation regulating online platform companies, which had been one of the most sensitive issues raised by the U.S. during working-level negotiations, was not addressed in the deal.
The government has a number of legislative proposals to regulate tech companies at home and abroad, such as Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, Facebook (META.O), opens new tab and South Korea's Naver (035420.KS), opens new tab and Kakao (035720.KS), opens new tab, but the ruling Democratic Party put a brake on the enactment process to smooth negotiations with the U.S.
Other non-tariff barriers cited in the U.S. foreign trade barriers report, such as restrictions on the export of location-based data, were not included in the deal either.
Trump has complained that South Korea should pay more for some 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in the country, but officials said security matters were not discussed in these negotiations.
Instead, they will be discussed at a summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in coming weeks.
At the opening round of trade negotiations in late April, South Korea agreed with the U.S. to consult on currency policy via a separate channel between finance officials.
The matter has not been publicly brought up by either side since, but South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, accompanied by a foreign exchange official, is scheduled to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday.