Turnberry: U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that his administration plans to impose tariffs ranging between 15 percent and 20 percent on most countries that have not yet secured a trade agreement with the United States. This announcement comes as South Korea intensifies its efforts to finalize a deal before the negotiation deadline later this week.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Trump made these remarks during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Turnberry, Scotland. The U.S. administration's "reciprocal" tariffs, which include a 25 percent levy on South Korean goods, are scheduled to be enforced on Friday unless a deal is reached. Trump indicated that the tariffs would likely be "somewhere in the 15-20 percent range" and expressed a desire to be "nice" by choosing between those two figures.
To date, the Trump administration has successfully negotiated bilateral trade agreements with several countries, including Britain, the European Union, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Other nations, such as South Korea, are actively seeking to secure agreements to mitigate the proposed reciprocal tariffs.
In response to the impending tariffs, senior South Korean officials have intensified their negotiation efforts. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo recently engaged in discussions with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington and New York. Following these meetings, they departed for Europe to continue negotiations, as key U.S. trade representatives accompanied Trump to Scotland.
South Korean officials have proposed a significant investment initiative, "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again," to potentially break the deadlock. This initiative aligns with the Trump administration's goal to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry in response to China's dominant shipbuilding capacity.
Additionally, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol plans to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Thursday. Concurrently, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is scheduled to visit the U.S. capital for discussions with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.