{"id":2208892,"date":"2025-03-28T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T23:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2208892"},"modified":"2025-03-28T10:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T01:18:08","slug":"trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s 25% auto tariffs undermine KORUS, leaving South Korea flat-footed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The U.S. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/adjusting-imports-of-automobiles-and-autombile-parts-into-the-united-states\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Thursday that it will impose a 25% tariff on all imported passenger vehicles and key auto parts, citing national security threats under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The tariff will take effect on April 3 for vehicles and no later than May 3 for parts, overriding prior trade agreements including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response, South Korea\u2019s trade ministry convened an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.motie.go.kr\/kor\/article\/ATCL3f49a5a8c\/170344\/view?mno=&amp;pageIndex=1&amp;rowPageC=0&amp;displayAuthor=&amp;searchCategory=0&amp;schClear=on&amp;startDtD=&amp;endDtD=&amp;searchCondition=1&amp;searchKeyword=#\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">emergency meeting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Seoul with automakers, parts suppliers and industry experts. Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun warned that the tariff would present \u201csignificant difficulty\u201d for South Korean firms and pledged to prepare a national emergency strategy for the auto industry by April.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>WHY IT MATTERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new tariffs expose South Korea\u2019s structural over-dependence on the U.S. auto market \u2014 and the inability of government strategy to keep pace with global shifts. While the government organizes meetings, Hyundai has already committed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/hyundais-21b-us-push-signals-a-seismic-strategy-shift-for-south-korean-firms\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$21 billion<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to U.S.-based production and R&amp;D to sidestep tariffs and embed itself in the U.S. market. This divergence highlights a growing policy misalignment between a reactive state and an adaptive private sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The White House\u2019s tariff proclamation also signals the effective collapse of trust in legal frameworks like KORUS, which the U.S. bypassed. By invoking national security concerns, the Trump administration has reaffirmed that agreements with the U.S. are only binding when politically convenient. Moreover, the auto tariffs indicate how the Trump administration will approach trade policies toward other sectors, including semiconductors, EV batteries and digital services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With President Yoon Suk-yeol facing impeachment and the country bracing for possible early elections, South Korea appears unable to mount a credible response. With South Korean conglomerates moving unilaterally to secure access abroad and the U.S. openly disregarding alliance norms, leading presidential candidates will likely fine tune their messaging regarding their respective trade strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/business-economy\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Business &amp; Economy<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/inter-korean-foreign-relations\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. announced on Thursday that it will impose a 25% tariff on all imported passenger vehicles and key auto parts, citing national security threats under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The tariff will take effect on April 3 for vehicles and no later than May 3 for parts, overriding prior trade agreements [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2208893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[24,27,28],"class_list":["post-2208892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-business-economy","tag-domestic-politics","tag-inter-korean-foreign-relations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump\u2019s 25% auto tariffs undermine KORUS, leaving South Korea flat-footed - Korea Pro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s 25% auto tariffs undermine KORUS, leaving South Korea flat-footed - Korea Pro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. announced on Thursday that it will impose a 25% tariff on all imported passenger vehicles and key auto parts, citing national security threats under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The tariff will take effect on April 3 for vehicles and no later than May 3 for parts, overriding prior trade agreements [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Korea Pro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-27T23:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-28T01:18:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/eb-16.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnleenknews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"johnleenknews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/person\/628fb985625ed7bb2c475bed33f6445f\"},\"headline\":\"Trump\u2019s 25% auto tariffs undermine KORUS, leaving South Korea flat-footed\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T23:00:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-28T01:18:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/\"},\"wordCount\":320,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/eb-16.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Business &amp; Economy\",\"Domestic Politics\",\"Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Briefings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s 25% auto tariffs undermine KORUS, leaving South Korea flat-footed - Korea Pro\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/eb-16.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T23:00:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-28T01:18:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/eb-16.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/eb-16.png\",\"width\":1870,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/03\/trumps-25-auto-tariffs-undermine-korus-leaving-south-korea-flat-footed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s 25% auto tariffs undermine KORUS, leaving South Korea flat-footed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/\",\"name\":\"Korea Pro\",\"description\":\"Be smart about South Korea. 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