The only exception .. Does Trump South Korea exempt the customs duties?

The South Korean Trade Ministry said that the Minister of Commerce asked his American counterpart to exempt the country from mutual customs duties if it enters into force in April, as the country could become the only exception to US President Donald Trump, according to the American CNBC network.

An exception to South Korea from the drawings

During his visit to Washington last week, South Korean Trade Minister Cheung In Kyo met with American commercial actor Jimson Green, and assured him that South Korea should not receive unfavorable treatment.
US President Donald Trump has announced the imposition of mutual customs duties on all US trading partners as of April 2.
Also read: Canada threatens an “immediate response” to American customs duties
Earlier this month, Trump South Korea severely criticized the application of high customs definitions to America.
He said that the customs duties imposed by the US ally in Asia were four times higher than the fees imposed by the United States.

South Korea definitions

Seoul objected to the opinion that Trump said, citing the saying that as of 2024, the actual customs tariffs of South Korea on US imports reached 0.79 %, in accordance with the free trade agreement between the two countries.
The Korean Ministry of Commerce said: “The two sides agreed that they will continue the discussions in an effort to achieve a constructive and useful progress for the two parties on customs and non -customs measures in the future as well.”

Negotiations between Korea and Trump

Acting South Korean President Choi Sang Mok, who said that Trump’s policies of America’s principle first target Seoul, also the government to communicate more active with the American administration to resolve any misunderstanding on customs duties.
Also read:
US President Donald Trump’s claim on March 4 that South Korea is four times higher than the United States’ fees imposed on its accuracy as well as concerns about the possible intention behind this statement, according to The Korea Herld.

The fourth economy in Asia

Trump’s targeting of South Korea raised the concerns of Korean policy makers and companies to be the fourth largest economy in Asia is the next in the “mutual customs duties” list imposed by the US President.
Trump has not provided any details about the source of his customs definitions, however, the observers say that his words may be incorrectly based on the definitions of the most careful country – the standard tariff rates imposed by countries on imports from other member states of the World Trade Organization unless there is a preferential definition agreement such as the Free Trade Agreement.

Relations between America and Korea

The most sponsored state tariff in Seoul is 13.4%, or nearly four times the American average of 3.3%, but this does not apply to the United States, which has a free trade agreement with Korea since 2012 and is subject to preferential customs tariffs.
Under the Free Trade Agreement between Korea and the United States, Korea and the United States canceled customs duties on most commodities.
As of 2024, the actual customs duties rate for Korea on goods imported from the United States reached about 0.79 %, according to the Ministry of Industry immediately after Trump’s comments. The ministry added that the rate decreases more when considering the recovery of fees and some imported goods deserve additional fees.
It is expected that the customs tariff rate on American imports will decrease more this year under a scheduled reduction plan, according to the ministry.

Why did Trump resort to customs duties?

“Trump has long expressed his dissatisfaction with the trade deficit with South Korea,” said Han Ah Rum, a prominent researcher at the Korean International Trade Association, noting that his claim about the existence of a four -fetal destination in customs definitions seems to be referring to the rates of the most careful country, not the free trade agreement rates.
“In the end, this seems to be an attempt to pressure South Korea and it seems that Trump is trying to maintain his influence on South Korea by focusing on this issue so it is important to determine his real demands, which is to address the trade deficit and share defense costs,” he added.