Doha: South Korea and the United States reached a wide-ranging trade agreement on Wednesday, including tariffs on automobiles.
According to Qatar News Agency, US President Donald Trump, shortly after leaving a summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Gyeongju, southeastern South Korea, the host city for this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, said that he and President Lee had reached a semi-final trade agreement.
“We did, we did. We did reach a deal”, Trump said, before adding “We made our deal, pretty much finalized it”, reaffirming his commitment to resolving security tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s chief presidential secretary, Kim Yong-beom, said that the agreement reached by Presidents Lee and Trump stipulates a reduction of mutual tariffs on automobiles to 15 percent, in addition to a plan for South Korean investments in the United States worth USD 350 billion, including 200 billion in cash and 150 billion for cooperation in the shipbuilding sector.
Notably, this is Trump’s first visit during his second term to South Korea, a two-day state visit, during which he arrived today in the South Korean city of Busan.