Trump hints at withdrawal from US-South Korea free trade deal

HOUSTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will discuss the fate of a five-year-old US-South Korean free trade deal with his advisers next week in a move that could see him pull out of the accord with a key American ally at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Trump made his remarks to reporters while visiting hurricane-hit Houston a day after he spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and struck a deal allowing Seoul access to longer-range missiles as well as a potential arms sale.

The US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), hammered out by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, has been a frequent target for Trump, who in earlier interviews with Reuters threatened to withdraw from what he called an unequal deal in which Washington runs a goods trade deficit of almost $28 billion with Seoul.

“It is very much on my mind,” Trump said in Houston when asked if he is talking to advisers and will do something about the pact this week.

The US Chamber of Commerce said in an email to members that it and other business groups “have received multiple reports” that the Trump administration is prepared to notify South Korea of its intent to withdraw from KORUS on Tuesday, and possibly sooner.

The largest US business lobby urged member companies to have senior executives call the White House and other administration officials to tell them not to proceed, and to enlist Republican governors in the effort.

“This is an all hands on deck effort,” the group said in a memo seen by Reuters that recalled another emergency campaign in April to persuade Trump not to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).