U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his first congressional address of his second term on Wednesday, highlighting his administration’s commitment to reciprocal trade and higher tariffs on countries he claims exploit the U.S. economy. During his speech, Trump singled out South Korea, alleging that its average tariff rate is four times higher than that of the U.S., despite Washington providing extensive military support. Trump also reaffirmed that his administration will implement “reciprocal tariffs” starting April 2, meaning the U.S. will impose duties equal to those levied by foreign trading partners on American goods.

The speech also touched on U.S. energy and shipbuilding priorities, with Trump claiming that South Korea, along with Japan, was interested in investing “trillions of dollars” into an Alaskan natural gas pipeline project. The claim coincided with South Korean industry minister Ahn Duk-geun’s visit to the U.S. last week, where Ahn met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss possible tariff exemptions. While Ahn stressed South Korea’s cooperation with U.S. shipbuilding efforts, Lutnick remained non-committal on granting South Korea any tariff relief.