Korea, U.S. tariff deal reached / KBS 2025.10.29.　#KBSNews

Today (10.29), through the South Korea–U.S. summit, the long-stalled tariff negotiations were dramatically concluded.

South Korea will invest 200 billion dollars in cash in the United States, and in return, the U.S. will lower automobile tariffs to 15 percent.

Our first report, from Jeong Jae-woo.

[Report]

This was the second meeting between the South Korean and U.S. presidents since August, and the summit lasted 87 minutes.

Afterward, President Trump attended a dinner hosted by President Lee Jae Myung and mentioned the outcome of the tariff talks.

[Donald Trump/U.S. President: “We reached a deal. We did a lot of different things. We had a great session.”]

Follow-up negotiations that had been delayed since the July agreement were swiftly finalized on the occasion of the summit.

The key sticking point was the size of the cash investment.

Out of the 350 billion dollars that South Korea had pledged to the United States, 200 billion dollars will be invested entirely in cash.

To prevent shocks to the foreign exchange market, an annual limit of 20 billion dollars was set.

[Kim Yong-beom/Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy: “Because the investment will proceed within an annual limit of 20 billion dollars depending on project progress, it will remain within the range our foreign exchange market can handle.”]

The remaining 150 billion dollars, which will be used for cooperation in the shipbuilding industry, will be led by Korean companies.

[President Lee Jae Myung: “We will actively support the revival of U.S. manufacturing and strengthen cooperation in shipbuilding.”]

Not all of the investment needs to be in cash—corporate guarantees can also be included in the total investment amount.

As for how the two countries will share profits, both sides agreed to a 50-50 split until repayment of principal and interest, with possible adjustments later.

The United States will lower automobile and parts tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent, the same level as Japan and the European Union.

[Kim Yong-beom/Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy: “We secured fair competition conditions by reducing automobile tariffs from 25 percent to the same level as Japan and the EU.”]

For semiconductors, another major export item, South Korea will receive tariff treatment not less favorable than Taiwan’s.

The government stated that it blocked any additional market opening in agriculture, including rice and beef.

However, the timing of the tariff reduction has not yet been finalized.

To implement the agreement, Korea must enact related legislation, and Presidential Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom stated that the law would be applied retroactively to the first day of the month in which it is submitted to the National Assembly.

Accordingly, the tariff reduction is expected to take effect as early as Nov. 1 or on Dec. 1.

This is KBS News, Jeong Jae-woo.

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