US, South Korea Finalize Trade Deal After Months of Talks
Plan Includes $150 Billion for Shipbuilding
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The U.S. and South Korea finalized a trade deal Oct. 29 after months of negotiation to iron out details of a framework agreement struck in July.
President Donald Trump said the agreement with South Korea had been reached as he attended a dinner hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
“We did reach a deal on trade,” Trump told reporters as he shook hands with Lee at the event, without providing additional details. Later at the dinner, Trump called his meetings with South Korea “tremendous” and said he had “pretty much finalized a trade deal.”
South Korea Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom confirmed that a deal had been reached shortly afterward at a press briefing, adding that Seoul would spend $150 billion on shipbuilding in the U.S. and provide $200 billion in cash under an investment pledge.
.: "We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea — with lots determined... We pretty much finalized a trade deal and we discussed some other things having to do with national security." — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47)
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what Trump meant.
South Korea had played down the notion that the two sides could finalize a trade deal that would see the U.S. cut tariffs in exchange for agreement on the details of a $350 billion investment pledge from Seoul.
South Korea’s trade talks with the U.S. have been in limbo for about three months after the two sides rushed to sign aninitial dealin late July that capped American tariffs on Korean goods at 15%.
U.S. duties on Korean car imports had remained at 25% while the talks continued. That left the nation’s automakers at a competitive disadvantage against their Japanese rivals since Tokyo finalized its deal in September. Those duties will now come down to 15%, according to Kim.
Just days before the deal was sealed, Lee said key details of a $350 billion investment package remained sticking points, while Trump called the agreement “pretty close” to completion, highlighting a gap in perceptions even as talks neared the finish line.
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“I think we came to a conclusion on a lot of very important items,” Trump said. The U.S. president said they also discussed national security matters and that he pledged to assist South Korea over tensions with North Korea.
Kim said that under the deal investment in the U.S. would be capped at $20 billion annually. Earlier this month the Bank of Korea had specified that sum as the maximum that could be supplied in dollars without having a negative impact on the local currency market.
The agreement gives Trump another success he can put on a list of deals struck during his trip through Asia. The most pivotal meeting for cementing positive optics for the trip comes Oct. 30, when he meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
