The White House announced on Tuesday that President Donald Trump intends to raise tariffs on South Korea to 25% due to the country’s lack of progress in fulfilling its commitments, despite previous tariff reductions.
A White House official, responding to News1‘s inquiry about Trump’s post on Truth Social, stated that South Korea reached an agreement with the Trump administration to secure tariff reductions.
The official asserted that, while President Trump has lowered tariffs on South Korea, there has been no progress in implementing the agreed terms.
The previous day, Trump expressed his frustration on Truth Social, saying that the South Korean National Assembly is not honoring the agreement with the United States. He continued that President Lee Jae Myung and he had reached a beneficial agreement for both countries on July 30, 2025, which he reaffirmed during his visit to Korea on October 29, 2025, and questioned why the South Korean National Assembly had not ratified it.
Trump then declared that because the South Korean National Assembly had not ratified what he called a historic trade agreement, he would raise tariffs on South Korean goods, including automobiles, timber, and pharmaceuticals, as well as all reciprocal tariffs, from 15% to 25%.
However, Trump did not specify when these new tariffs would take effect.
Trump’s announcement appears to address the delays in South Korea’s promised 350 billion USD investment in the U.S., which was intended to offset the previously lowered tariffs on reciprocal goods, such as automobiles.
The most prominent issue is the delay in processing the “Special Act for Managing U.S. Strategic Investments” (Special Act for U.S. Investment) in the National Assembly, which is crucial for implementing the investment.
The Special Act for U.S. Investment was proposed by the ruling Democratic Party on November 26, following the release on November 13 last year of a joint fact sheet detailing key agreements between the two nations’ leaders in the security and trade sectors. This bill aims to establish the legal and institutional framework for U.S. investments, including the creation of the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Fund and the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation. However, the opposition People Power Party has opposed it, insisting that the ratification process for the trade agreement should take precedence.
As processing of this bill is delayed, recent concerns about the weakening Korean won and foreign-exchange market instability may have further irritated the Trump administration, especially as the South Korean government suggested it could flexibly adjust the timing of its 20 billion USD annual investment.
There are also interpretations that the recent amendments to South Korea’s Network Act, passed by the National Assembly, are related to discrimination against U.S. tech companies due to restrictions on freedom of expression.
Sarah Rogers, the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, expressed concerns on social media last month, stating that while South Korea’s amendments to the Network Act appear to focus on addressing defamatory deepfakes, they could have broader implications and threaten technological cooperation.
Some argue that this is also a pressure tactic amid criticism in U.S. political circles regarding the Coupang data breach incident.
On the same day, the Republican side of the House Judiciary Committee shared a screenshot of Trump’s post on Facebook, commenting that this is what happens when you unjustly target American companies like Coupang.”
On the same day, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee shared a screenshot of Trump’s post on Facebook and said this was what happens when you unjustly target American companies like Coupang.