AKP Phnom Pen, 27 January,2026--
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he will raise tariffs on certain South Korean goods from 15 percent to 25 percent, accusing South Korea's legislature of not having enacted a bilateral trade agreement with the United States.

"Because the Korean Legislature hasn't enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative, I am hereby increasing South Korean TARIFFS on Autos, Lumber, Pharma, and all other Reciprocal TARIFFS, from 15% to 25%," he said on social media.

"South Korea's Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States," Trump said. "President Lee and I reached a Great Deal for both Countries on July 30, 2025, and we reaffirmed these terms while I was in Korea on October 29, 2025."

According to the agreement finalized by Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in October 2025, the United States would impose blanket tariffs of 15 percent on imports from South Korea, 10 percentage points lower than the level Trump had threatened. In return, South Korea agreed to invest 350 billion U.S. dollars in the United States.

South Korea is an important trading partner for the United States, which imported over 100 billion dollars' worth of goods from South Korea in the past few years.

South Korea's presidential office said that it has received no official notification from Washington about the latest tariff hike, and that the country's trade minister will visit the United States to discuss the matter.

AKP-Xinhua