US President Donald Trump said Friday that he will announce tariffs on imported cars in early April in what could be a direct setback to the South Korean automotive industry.
The president announced the plan to unveil auto tariffs on April 2 as he has been using tariffs as a key tool to shrink America's trade deficit, boost domestic manufacturing and achieve other policy goals, including preventing the inflow of unauthorized migrants and drugs.
Amid Trump's tariff-based policy push, fears have been swirling that Asia's fourth largest economy could be put into his administration's crosshairs given that South Korea's trade surplus with the United States reached $55.7 billion last year.
"We're going to do it on April 2, I think. Is that right?," Trump asked his aide who said, "That's right."
The US is a top auto export market for South Korea. Of South Korea's total car exports last year, exports to the US were tallied at $34.7 billion, or 49.1 percent. No US tariffs have been imposed on Korean cars since 2016 under a bilateral free trade agreement.
The auto tariff announcement came as the Trump administration is pushing to roll out "reciprocal" tariffs on US imports to match what other countries impose on American goods. It has already announced a plan to impose 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, starting March 12, while weighing new tariffs on chips and pharmaceuticals.
Trump's tariff announcements are being keenly followed by South Korean officials amid concerns that policy coordination with Washington could be slower than before in the midst of political uncertainty in Seoul caused by impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law attempt in early December. (Yonhap)
