South Korea to Negotiate Tariff Deal with Trump Administration Next Week
I guess we will see next week if the ROK can strike a deal or not with the Trump administration. What will be interesting is if a deal is struck will the likely Lee Jae-myung administration in two months stick to it?:
The United States will engage in trade negotiations with South Korea next week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday, stressing the “first mover advantage,” as countries are striving to strike deals with the U.S. to minimize the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy on their economies.
In a Bloomberg interview, Bessent touched on plans for upcoming negotiations with South Korea and Japan. Earlier this month, Trump imposed steep “reciprocal” tariffs on the two allies and dozens of other countries but later placed a 90-day pause on the new tariffs.
“We had Vietnam in last week. We (have) Japanese in on Wednesday. … South Korea next week,” he said. “So it’s going to move fast.”
The secretary underscored there will be a “first mover” advantage as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament Monday (Tokyo time) that Japan will not make compromises for the sake of quickly wrapping up tariff talks with the U.S.
“I think there will be advantage to our allies, especially a first mover advantage,” he said. “Usually, the first person who makes a deal gets the best deal.”
You can read more at the link.
Sure, let the PPP ruling government (Yoon as former chief) officials “negotiate” away everything, all they want. They are useless temporary stooges anyway. As soon as the real government of Lee Jae Myung comes to power in June, Korea can just ignore any signed contract. That’s what America does, routinely, so turnabout is fair play.
And no, you’re not going to get South Korea to bite on the $40 billion Alaska LNG project investment, just for the right to buy your expensive gas. Exxon Mobile already said that the project is economically unfeasible and financially makes no sense. Korea will buy LNG from Canada’s newly built Pacific terminal, though.
The current PPP government is making a big mistake.
Trump is desperate now.
Let the desperation stay in place for a little while and it will be possible for Korea to negotiate on more favorable terms.
Show how the right wing are dumb and lack strategic vision and patience.
KP,
Economist Ha-Joon Chang warns: “Pleasing Trump won’t help… Korea could suffer by leaning on the U.S.” advised that Korea needs to develop a “strategy to get away from the U.S.”
“The U.S. measures, such as reciprocal tariffs, will make other countries think of a ‘global economy without the U.S.’ in the long run.” Despite Trump announcing a 90-day pause on all the reciprocal tariffs, Chang asserted, “Trust has already been broken,” and added, “The U.S. has crossed the Rubicon.”
He particularly emphasized the need for South Korea to adopt a national strategy to reduce dependence on the U.S. He also suggested that Korea should rethink its negotiation strategy, which is centered on appeasing Trump. “The Korean government’s mindset still seems stuck in the era when its per capita income was only $1,000. All they worry about is how not to upset the U.S.,” said Chang. “Given how the U.S. is acting, it makes no sense to keep saying, ‘What else can we get you?’” The following is an excerpt from the interview.
https://www.reddit.com/r/korea/comments/1k03bme/economist_hajoon_chang_warns_pleasing_trump_wont/
Everyone knows, making a deal with Trump means nothing. The best way to handle him is what China is doing. Ignore him.
The current admin is a government of idiots that backed Yoon’s martial law, but thankfully temporary. They will be voted out, and the real government will be installed come June.