US President Donald Trump announced an increase in tariffs for South Korea from 15 to 25%. This was reported by UNN.
Details
South Korean cars, timber, pharmaceutical products, and any other mutual trade items fall under the new tariffs.
Our trade agreements are very important to America. In each of these agreements, we acted quickly to reduce tariffs in accordance with the agreement reached. We, of course, expect our trading partners to do the same. The South Korean parliament is not fulfilling its agreement with the United States. President Lee and I reached an excellent agreement for both countries on July 30, 2025, and we reaffirmed these terms during my stay in Korea on October 29, 2025. Why hasn't the Korean parliament approved this yet?
According to him, since the South Korean parliament has not adopted "our historic trade agreement, which is their right," he is raising tariffs on South Korean cars, timber, pharmaceutical products, and any other mutual trade items from 15% to 25%.
Recall
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick issued an ultimatum to leading global semiconductor manufacturers. During an event in New York State on Friday, January 16, 2026, he made it clear that access to the American market for Taiwanese and South Korean companies would depend on their willingness to build factories within the United States.