President Donald Trump announced on July 30 that the United States had reached a trade agreement with South Korea, one of the largest U.S. trading partners in a strategically important region.
“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,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Under the agreement, South Korea will invest $350 billion in assets owned and controlled by the United States, with specifics to be selected by Trump himself. In addition, the Southeast Asian country will purchase $100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas or other energy products from the United States.
“It is also agreed that South Korea will be completely OPEN TO TRADE with the United States, and that they will accept American product[s] including Cars and Trucks, Agriculture, etc,” Trump wrote.
The United States will impose a 15 percent tariff on South Korean imports to the United States, while U.S. goods will not be subject to customs duties at South Korean ports.
Trump said South Korea has also agreed to make investments in U.S. energy. The exact amount of these investments has not been determined. He said the amount will be announced within the next two weeks, as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is set to attend a bilateral meeting at the White House.
“I would also like to congratulate the new President on his Electoral Success,” Trump said of Lee, a center-left candidate who was sworn in as president of South Korea on June 4.
The deal was announced less than two days before Aug. 1, the deadline that Trump had set for a substantial increase in tariffs if trading relations were not rebalanced.
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On April 2, the U.S. president had announced a baseline global tariff of 10 percent, as well as country-specific reciprocal tariffs that attempted to impose reciprocal duties on countries that tax U.S. goods. These ranged from 11 percent to 50 percent.
Trump also announced on July 30 that the administration had reached a deal with Pakistan, under which the United States and Pakistan “will work together on developing their massive Oil Reserves.”
The company that will lead the effort is still being decided, the president said.
“Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling Oil to India some day!” Trump wrote.
South Korea is the third-largest U.S. trading partner in the region, behind only China and Japan.
A final deal hasn’t been reached with China. At talks in May in Geneva, both sides agreed to a 90-day pause on tariff increases, which will expire on Aug. 12.
Trump announced a deal with the other major economy in the region, Japan, on July 22.
Under that deal, Japan will pay a 15 percent reciprocal tariff to the United States.
Japan also agreed to invest $500 billion in the United States, with most profits going to the U.S. government.
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