Trump delivers tough trade talk to S. Korea
Tells visiting Moon he will renegotiate 5-year-old deal
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump opened his meeting Friday with newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in with tough trade talk, announcing he is renegotiating a five-year-old trade deal between the two countries that was a joint legacy of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Yet it was unclear from his and administration aides’ remarks how significant a break Trump was making with a free-trade agreement that had broad support when it was approved in Congress. Trump’s announcement could be seen as a provocation of an ally during a delicate time, when the administration is looking to South Korea to help contain North Korea’s nuclear program.
“It’s been a rough deal for the United States, but I think that it will be much different and it will be good for both parties,” Trump said during a joint appearance with Moon in the Oval Office.
“We want something that’s going to be good for the American worker,” Trump added.
Moon said nothing publicly to confirm that a fullscale renegotiation was underway. He said that the agreement benefits both countries, and that they can address specific concerns if necessary. Trump’s public criticism of South Korea’s trade surplus with the U.S. could cause Moon embarrassment at home, and stoke pressure against U.S. demands for a harder line against North Korea.
Congressional approval would likely be required for major changes. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, is calling a joint committee meeting with his South Korean counterparts that would start an amendment process.
She dismissed questions about the impact on the U.S. security relationship with South Korea. Its embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
“It sounds like the president got ahead of himself,” said Wendy Cutler, a former career trade official who served as the lead negotiator on the deal for Bush and Obama.
Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Trump does not appear to have gotten buy-in from South Korea and would need close consultation with Congress.
“It seems to me this was kind of a one-sided announcement,” said Cutler, in a phone interview from Tokyo.
Trump has complained bitterly about the trade deficit with South Korea, which was $17 billion for goods and services in 2016, according to the U.S. trade office.
But the trade relationship is an important one. South Korea is America’s sixth-largest goods trading partner, with $112.2 billion exchanged between the two countries last year.
The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement was negotiated and signed by Bush in 2007 and then renegotiated and implemented under Obama in 2012.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the trade imbalance between the countries has doubled since the agreement, and he blamed South Korea for restricting imports of U.S. cars.
Obama, during a meeting with Moon’s predecessor, Park Geun-hye, in 2015, praised the deal, pointing to increased overall trade between the countries, including exports of American cars, in the first three years.
“We do still havework to do,” Obama said then about compliance with the agreement. Whenissues arise, he added, “We need to resolve them quickly.”
But sharp trade rhetoric helped win Trump the election.
“The United States has many, many trade deficits with many countries and we cannot allow that,” Trump toldMoon during a public moment in the Cabinet room. “We will start with South Korea right now.”