The White House announces its revised trade deal with South Korea
On Tuesday eveninig, White House officials announced that the Trump administration had successfully renegotiated the six-year-old South Korea-U.S. trade agreement (KORUS), giving President Trump his first major trade deal since being elected. In return for exemption from Trump's 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent tariff on aluminum, South Korea agreed to limit its U.S. steel exports to 2.68 million tons a year, or roughly 70 percent of its average exports from 2015 to 2017; allow twice as many U.S.-made cars, 50,000 per manufacturer, into Korea without meeting local safety standards; and extend for 20 years a 25 percent tariff on South Korean pickup trucks exported to the U.S. The Trump administration also said it was wrapping up a nonenforceable side deal to deter currency devaluations by South Korea.
An unidentified senior administration official told reporters that the "historic" agreement in principle "is visionary and innovative, and it underscores a pattern of failure by previous administrations to negotiate fair and reciprocal trade deals." Trump had threatened to rip up KORUS if South Korea did not renegotiate, and the threatened steel tariff provided another carrot and stick for U.S. negotiators. It's not clear Trump's "America First" strong-arm tactics will work with larger trading partners like China, Canada, and Mexico. And not everyone is as impressed as the White House with the deal.
For example, Ford and General Motors sent fewer than 10,000 cars each to South Korea last year, well short of the new 50,000 cap, and no Korean company currently exports pickup trucks to the U.S. "The expanded quota on autos allows in cars we don't want to ship," Phil Levy, a senior economist in President George W. Bush's White House, tells The Washington Post. "The extended tariff on trucks blocks pickups the Koreans are not exporting. And the limitation on Korean steel exports will make life more difficult for all the U.S. manufacturers who use Korean steel. ... In what way does this help?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The art world and motherhood: the end of a final taboo?
Talking Point Hettie Judah's new touring exhibition offers a 'riveting riposte' to old cliches
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Immigration helped the US economy outpace peers
speed read The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% last quarter
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
4-day workweek gets boost from UK study
Speed Read Following a six-month trial, the majority of participating British companies are still using the truncated schedule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sues to block Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger between the grocery giants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nvidia sees historic stock rise on AI chips success
Speed Read U.S. chipmaker Nvidia achieved the biggest one-day increase in value of any company in history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published