Trump Imposes 25% Tariff Increase on South Korea

US President Donald Trump has announced a sharp increase in tariffs on imports from South Korea, lifting duties to 25% after claiming Seoul has failed to fully honour a trade agreement reached last year.

Posting on social media, Trump said tariffs would rise from 15% on a wide range of South Korean goods, including cars, lumber and pharmaceuticals, adding that the US had already moved quickly to lower its own tariffs under the deal while South Korea’s approval process had stalled.

South Korean officials said they had not received formal notification of the tariff hike and called for urgent discussions with Washington. The country’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, currently in Canada, is expected to travel to the United States soon to meet Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Markets initially reacted negatively, with South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index slipping in early trade before rebounding later in the session as major exporters recovered.

The bilateral agreement, reached in October, included a South Korean pledge to invest around $350 billion in the US, with part of that funding directed toward shipbuilding. In November, both countries agreed that US tariffs on certain products would be reduced once South Korea began approving the pact. The agreement was submitted to South Korea’s National Assembly late last year and local media report it could be passed in February.

Under the new measures, US companies importing South Korean goods will pay the higher 25% tariff.

Trump has frequently used tariffs as a negotiating tool during his second term, recently issuing similar warnings to several countries over trade and geopolitical disputes before easing some of those threats following diplomatic engagement.