South Korea holds emergency meeting on Trump’s potential steel tariffs
SEOUL – South Korea’s Industry Ministry said on Monday it held an emergency meeting with steelmakers in Seoul to discuss measures to minimise the impact of potential U.S. tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he will announce on Monday that the United States will impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, including from Canada and Mexico, as well as other import duties later in the week.
“Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff,” he told reporters Sunday on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl. When asked about aluminium, he responded, “aluminium, too” will be subject to the trade penalties.
In this regard, the ministry said it was trying learn the details of the potential tariffs, and would work closely with steelmakers to actively respond to the potential tariffs.
Korean steelmakers supply steel to the factories of carmakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, as well as television and home appliance companies like Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, in Mexico and the United States, industry officials said.
Additionally, Trump reaffirmed that he would announce “reciprocal tariffs”—“probably Tuesday or Wednesday”—meaning that the U.S. would impose import duties on products in cases where another country has levied duties on U.S. goods.
According to the Associated Press, Trump’s comments are the latest example of his willingness to threaten, and in some cases to impose, import taxes. Tariffs are coming much earlier in his presidency than during his previous four years in the White House, when he prioritized tax cuts and deregulation. Trump has alternately said he sees import taxes as tools to force concessions on issues such as immigration, but also as a source of revenue to help close the government’s budget deficit.
Financial markets fell on Friday after Trump first said he would impose the reciprocal tariffs. Stock prices also dropped after a measure of consumer sentiment declined on Friday, largely because many respondents cited tariffs as a growing worry.
