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Donald Trump has said he will increase tariffs on South Korea to 25 per cent in response to Seoul’s slow pace in passing the trade deal it struck with the US last year.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, the US president said the increase would apply to all goods covered by his “reciprocal” tariffs, along with cars, lumber and pharmaceutical goods.
“Our Trade Deals are very important to America,” Trump wrote. “In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to. We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same.”
He added: “South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States.”
Trump’s abrupt ratcheting-up of duties on a trading partner, upending a trade deal he struck last year, will rattle other foreign countries with similar agreements.
The president announced last summer he would slash many of his tariffs on South Korea to 15 per cent as part of a deal that saw Seoul pledge $350bn of investments in the US.
The deal included crucial relief for South Korean auto companies with tariffs on on cars and car parts cut to 15 per cent, bringing them in line with levies imposed by Trump on Japan and the EU.
The agreement was further developed and sealed last October after Trump visited South Korea.
Although this is the first time Trump has reversed course on a deal to avert the highest levels of his “reciprocal” tariffs, his officials have previously complained that other countries were not implementing the deals quickly enough.
Trump’s top trade officials in November hit out at the EU for failing to implement its side of a trade deal with the US quickly enough, accusing the bloc of “being kind of slow”.
The tariff announcement follows a tumultuous week in which Trump warned he would impose steep levies on European countries before ultimately backing down.
Late last week, the European parliament said it would delay any further measures to put in place the trade deal with Washington until Trump dropped his threats to impose tariffs over his bid for control of Greenland.
Trump cannot impose tariffs by announcing them on Truth Social and will need to enact the levies using a presidential authority, such as an executive order, before they apply.
Many of the tariffs he has imposed over the past year have been subject to court challenges and could be ruled illegal by the US Supreme Court.