‘We’re going to have a wonderful deal with a wonderful ally,’ the US president said. ‘It was a deal that was causing a lot of problems for our country’
The US and South Korea are close to a resolution on trade disputes, US President Donald Trump said as his administration initiated punitive tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, part of an escalating trade war with China, which has begun retaliating.
“The deal with South Korea, according to [commerce secretary Wilbur] Ross and [US Trade Representative Robert] Lighthizer, is very close to being finished,” Trump said, referring to a revised bilateral trade pact known as Korus.
“And we’re going to have a wonderful deal with a wonderful ally. We’re getting very close to it. It was a deal that was causing a lot of problems for our country, in terms of employment and in terms of lots of other things,” Trump said at the White House.
The two sides are also nearing an agreement to exclude South Korea from the steel and aluminium tariffs, which went into effect Friday.
“We believe we are relatively close to a pretty comprehensive resolution with the South Korean government. It will encompass, if it goes through, both the [steel and aluminium tariffs] and broader trade issues, and we hope by sometime next week to be able to have a real announcement,” said Ross, who appeared with Trump.
