Why U.S.’s Trade Pact With South Korea Has Gotten Messier
Story by Brian Schwartz, Timothy W. Martin Wall St Journal
President Trump’s trade deal with South Korea is on shaky ground, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick taking a tough line in talks as some Seoul officials privately argue to allies that the White House is moving the goal posts.
Lutnick, in recent conversations with South Korean officials, has discussed with Seoul the idea of slightly increasing the $350 billion they had previously guaranteed to the U.S. in July and suggested the final tally could get a bit closer to the $550 billion pledged by Japan, according to people familiar with the discussions, including an adviser to South Korea’s government.
The commerce secretary has privately told South Korean officials the administration is looking for more of the funding to be provided in cash rather than loans, said some of the people, including a U.S. official.
The fate of the Trump administration’s trade pact with South Korea represents a key barometer for the U.S.’s broader tariff dealmaking with dozens of countries. Many of those deals, including the one with Seoul, have been verbal, not signed, agreements.
That has left a gulf between the U.S. and some of its key trading partners over what it would take to cross the finish line.
A White House official told The Wall Street Journal that while the U.S. is working to fine-tune its agreement with South Korea, the administration isn’t asking for anything that would represent a “dramatic departure” from what was already agreed upon. Full details of that framework haven’t been disclosed.
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