KORUS Changes, Permanent Section 232 Exemption for South Korea Could Come Next Week
President Donald Trump, speaking to the press about signing the omnibus spending package for fiscal year 2018, opened by talking about negotiations with allies about exemptions from Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel. "Some tremendous trade deals are being made with various countries. We're negotiating very long very hard, but very quickly," he said. "The deal with South Korea, according to [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross and [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer is very close to being finished, and we're going to have a wonderful deal with a wonderful ally." He said the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement, or KORUS, as originally implemented "was a deal that was causing a lot of problems for our country with employment."
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He asked Ross to speak about the Korean negotiations, and Ross added: "It will encompass both the 232s and broader trade issues, and we hope by sometime next week to have a real announcement." At the end of his talk March 23, he said, "We have many trade deals, not only the deal being made with South Korea. ... Many countries are now negotiating fair trade deals with us. Frankly, part of the reason we're able to do that, is the fact we have the tariffs on steel and the tariffs on aluminum."
However, the view from the other side of the table was not so upbeat. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at a press conference in Brussels: “We will talk about anything in principle with a country that respects WTO [World Trade Organization] rules. We will not talk about anything when it is with a gun to our head."