Breaking down US-South Korea trade dealーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
South Korean negotiators have reached a trade agreement with the US just ahead of Friday’s deadline. Tariffs will be set at 15% the same rate as Japan and the EU and officials in Seoul have agreed to a major purchase of liqufied natural gas or other energy products. NHK World’s Kaienki spoke with an expert about what the deal means for US relations in Asia. Patrick Cronin is the Asia-Pacific Security Chair at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington. He praises the outcome of the negotiations. I think it’s excellent that South Korea was able to reach an agreement under these very difficult circumstances in a period of eight weeks after this new administration has taken office. Cronin says the South Koreans seem to have what’s called a second mover advantage because they saw what Japan had already done and he says their deal closely mirrors that agreement. The South Korean government wanted to at least achieve the same results say on autos auto tariffs that the EU and Japan had so that they didn’t feel disadvantaged. Um, I think the biggest sticking point at the end was the amount of the investment. The entire value of the package is $350 billion. South Korean officials emphasize the modest size. Our investment commitment ended up being smaller than Japan’s. Excluding ship building, the $200 billion investment amounts to just 36% of Japan’s. Cronin says political calculations were involved in the decision. There is domestic concern inside South Korea as you may know um that the full amount of potential investment that South Korea is talking about exceeds their uh current reserves. So they want to downplay I think the total number and I understand that for political reasons. A summit between President Eon and Trump is expected within the next two weeks. Cronin says the meeting may be more than just ceremonial. I would expect there to be opportunity for some initial probing on both alliance issues. for instance, about the forthcoming defense review um that could bring force structure changes, but also as you suggest on North Korea policy on aligning North Korea policy on thinking about outreach to Kim Jong-un. Crony says he doesn’t expect concrete outcomes on tougher issues, but sees the summit as a starting point for deeper dialogue and he highlights broader strategic concerns. US ties with key allies like Japan and South Korea remain strong, but nations in Southeast Asia are increasingly adopting hedging strategies. I think the United States is losing some opportunity. Uh with these uh upheavalss that we are helping to create, um we’re giving China kind of an easy pass on some of its behavior. it now looks like it’s the more predictable stable uh stabilizing force and I don’t think that’s accurate. The deals with Japan and South Korea may serve as a foundation for deeper cooperation for the US but with rising competition and shifting alliances the road ahead remains complex. Kaienki and HK
South Korea and the US are entering a new era of trade relations. Patrick Cronin, an Asia-Pacific expert at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, tells NHK World about the implications of the agreement. #southkorea #usa #trade #asia
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