'More aggressive than expected': Trump's announces 25% reciprocal tariffs against Korea

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of 25 percent "reciprocal tariffs" on Korea are more severe than expected despite a slew of Korean companies recently announcing massive investment commitments in the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump announces reciprocal tariffs as he holds a chart of ″worst offenders,″ placing Korea at seventh place, during an event entitled ″Make America Wealthy Again″ in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on April 2. [AFP/YONHAP]

U.S. President Donald Trump announced "reciprocal tariffs" on Korea that are more severe than expected despite a slew of Korean companies recently announcing massive investment commitments in the United States.

In a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, the president announced a regime of tariffs he described as reciprocal to tariffs and nontariff barriers for U.S. goods and services imposed by trade partners. At the time, Trump said that Korea would be subject to a 25 percent rate, but White House documentation released the same day clarified that the rate is actually set at 26 percent.

The tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose on Korea are even higher than those planned for Japan and the European Union, where the United States has a bigger trade deficit than with Korea. Both the European Union and Japan were among the top five on a chart of what Trump described as the "worst offenders."

"Trump's tariff policies turned out to be more aggressive than expected; today's reciprocal tariff is close to the worst scenario," researcher Cho Yeon-ju from NH Investment & Securities said in a report immediately after the announcement.

Experts have predicted a rate of 20 percent — or lower — for Korea, including Bloomberg Economics’ evaluation that estimated 16 percent, the lowest among 15 countries, citing Korea's “fewer tariff differences, value-added tax levels and other non-tariff barriers compared to other surplus countries.”

The White House on Wednesday unveiled a list of countries subject to higher reciprocal tariffs, with Korea placing 7th. Trump claimed that Korea charges 50 percent tariffs on the United States.

“U.S. automakers face a variety of non-tariff barriers that impede access to the Japanese and Korean automotive markets, including non-acceptance of certain U.S. standards, duplicative testing and certification requirements and transparency issues,” the White House said.

“Due to these non-reciprocal practices, the U.S. trade deficit with Korea more than tripled from 2019 to 2024.”

Trump's new tariffs don’t apply to automobiles, auto parts and steel, on which the United States has already imposed 25 percent tariffs slated to go into effect starting Thursday.

Trump, however, hinted that there is room left for further negotiations.

Update, April 3, 2025: Changed headline to reflect conflicting tariff percentage, added information about actual rate.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]