By Joseph Lord

President Donald Trump on Jan. 26 announced that the United States would be increasing tariff duties on South Korea to a new rate of 25 percent from the previous rate of 15 percent.

Trump, in a post on Truth Social, alleged that the South Korean legislature “is not living up to its Deal with the United States” through its failure to enact the agreement.

“Because the Korean Legislature hasn’t enacted our Historic Trade Agreement … I am hereby increasing South Korean TARIFFS on Autos, Lumber, Pharma, and all other Reciprocal TARIFFS, from 15 percent to 25 percent,” he wrote.

The deal referenced by Trump was reached in October 2025 after Trump met with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Under the agreement, U.S. tariffs on Korean goods were set at a rate of 15 percent, while Seoul agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States, including $150 billion for shipbuilding.

In a statement at the time, the White House stated that South Korea had committed to spending billions of dollars with several U.S. companies, including a purchase for $36.2 billion worth of Boeing aircraft and $13.7 billion worth of GE Aerospace engines by passenger carrier Korean Air.

“South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States,” Trump wrote on Jan. 26. “President Lee and I reached a Great Deal for both Countries on July 30, 2025, and we reaffirmed these terms while I was in Korea on October 29, 2025. Why hasn’t the Korean Legislature approved it?”

South Korean lawmakers in the nation’s parliament have indicated that they’re taking time to work through the economic and financial ramifications that the agreement could entail.

Ahead of the deal being reached in October 2025, some South Korean officials had already expressed skepticism about South Korea’s ability to pay the $350 billion in investment obligations.

Those concerns haven’t waned. Earlier this month, the South Korean finance minister said the country likely wouldn’t be able to start making the promised investments in the first half of 2026 because of weaknesses in the nation’s won currency.

As the won endures a trade slump last seen during the 2008 global financial crisis, the prospect of large currency outflows to the United States has caused headaches for South Korean authorities.

Last year, both countries stated that, as part of South Korea’s overarching $350 billion investment into U.S. strategic sectors, the nation would agree to pay $200 billion in cash in phased installments, maxing out at $20 billion per year to maintain the stability of the won.

Reuters contributed to this report.