Trump says may hold up South Korea trade deal until after deal with North Korea
U.S. President Donald Trump said he may hold up a trade agreement reached this week with South Korea
This is until after a deal is reached with North Korea on denuclearization.
“I may hold it up until after a deal is made with North Korea,” Trump said in a speech. “You know why? Because it’s a very strong card. And I want to make sure everyone is treated fairly,” he added.
Senior U.S. officials have expressed concerns privately that Seoul is the weak link in the U.S.-Japan-South Korean alliance and could be too quick to seal a deal with North Korea.
Trump agreed this month to accept an invitation to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. South Korean officials have said the meeting would take place by the end of May, after a North-South summit in April.”We’re moving along very nicely with North Korea. We’ll see what happens. Certainly the rhetoric has calmed down just a little bit,” Trump told construction workers in Ohio.
The United States and South Korea earlier this week agreed to revise their six-year-old free trade agreement with a side deal to deter competitive currency devaluation by Seoul and more access for U.S. automakers and drug makers to the South Korean market.The deal also lifts the threat of a 25 percent U.S. tariff on imports of steel from South Korea in exchange for quotas that will effectively cut U.S. imports of Korean steel.
Published: by Radio NewsHub