US President accuses Seoul of not ratifying trade agreement reached with the US government last year
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Monday (27) that he has decided to raise tariffs on products from South Korea from 15% to 25%, claiming that the Asian country has not yet implemented the trade agreement reached with the American government last year.
“The South Korean Parliament is not fulfilling its agreement with the United States. President Lee Jae-myung and I reached a great agreement for both countries on July 30, 2025 and reaffirmed these conditions while I was in Korea on October 29, 2025. Why didn’t the Korean Parliament approve it?”, asked Trump in a message on his social network, Truth Social.
Trump stated that, due to South Korean inaction to ratify the agreement, he will increase tariffs on products imported from South Korea to 25%. such as “automobiles, wood, pharmaceutical products and all other products subject to reciprocal tariffs”, although it did not specify a date for this measure to come into force.
The tariff and investment package agreed with Washington, which established a base tariff of 15% for South Korean products and large investments by its conglomerates on American soil, has not yet been implemented in the Asian country due to internal disagreement over the role that Parliament should play in its implementation.
The Lee government argues that the package can be implemented mainly through executive decrees and a special law, but legal experts and part of the conservative opposition argue that not approving it through parliamentary means would be unconstitutional.
*With EFE
