Trump says U.S. has struck trade deals with S. Korea, Japan, others to bolster coal exports 'dramatically'

▲ U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event on coal power at the White House in Washington on Feb. 11, 2026, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

Trump-S Korea-trade deal

Trump says U.S. has struck trade deals with S. Korea, Japan, others to bolster coal exports 'dramatically'

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday his administration has clinched "historic" trade agreements with South Korea, Japan, India and other countries to boost U.S. coal exports "dramatically."

Trump made the remarks during the "champion of coal" event, underlining his support for coal mining.

"In just the past few months, we've made historic trade deals with Japan, Korea, India and others to increase our coal exports dramatically," he said at the White House event. "We are now exporting coal to all over the world."

It remains unclear whether a trade deal between Seoul and Washington includes a detailed agreement on boosting U.S. coal exports.

Announcing an initial trade deal with South Korea on social media in July, Trump said that South Korea agreed to purchase US$100 billion of U.S. liquefied natural gas or other "energy" products.

But there was no mention of a coal export agreement in a joint fact sheet that Seoul and Washington released in November to outline trade and security agreements from two summits between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Trump in August and October.

Under the trade deal, South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in the U.S. with an annual cap of $20 billion, among other pledges, in return for the U.S. lowering "reciprocal" tariffs on the Asian country to 15 percent from 25 percent.

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