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| ▲ Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) S Korea-US tariffs
(LEAD) Cheong Wa Dae says it was not officially notified of Trump's announced tariff hike
(ATTN: ADDS more details in paras 6-10)
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has not officially received a notice or explanation from the United States over President Donald Trump's move to raise reciprocal tariffs and auto duties on the Asian ally, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.
Trump said Monday (local time) in a social media post that he's raising "reciprocal" tariffs and auto tariffs on South Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent, arguing that the South Korean legislature has not yet completed a domestic process to implement a bilateral trade deal.
"There has been no official notification or explanation of the details from the U.S. government so far," the presidential office said in a press notice.
Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, is set to convene an interagency meeting to discuss the government's response, it said.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, who is currently in Canada, plans to visit the United States as soon as possible to hold talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the issue, it added.
Trump was apparently referring to a bill that the ruling Democratic Party (DP) submitted to the National Assembly in November to implement the bilateral trade and investment deal, which has yet to be passed.
Seoul and Washington reached a trade deal in July and finalized details of the agreement on the sidelines of President Lee Jae Myung's summit with Trump in late October.
Following the summit, the two sides released a joint fact sheet Nov. 13, outlining agreements in the security and trade sectors, including South Korea's commitment to invest $350 billion in the U.S. in exchange for tariff reductions on Korean automobiles and U.S. approval for Seoul's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed afterward, the two sides agreed that tariff reductions would be applied retroactively from the first day of the month in which the implementing legislation was submitted to the South Korean parliament.
The DP submitted the bill to the National Assembly in late November, and the U.S. later lowered tariffs on South Korean automobiles to 15 percent, retroactive to Nov. 1, through a Federal Register notice issued in early December.
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