South Korea’s parliament passed a $350 billion US investment bill to secure tariff relief, a move expedited by former President Donald Trump’s threats.
SEOUL: South Korea’s parliament passed a bill on Thursday that paves the way for $350 billion in US investments under a deal struck with Washington last year.
The agreement, finalised in November, was designed to avoid the worst of former President Donald Trump’s tariffs in exchange for the massive investment package.
The legislation includes $150 billion earmarked for shipbuilding cooperation, with the remainder allocated to strategic sectors such as semiconductors.
Its passage follows Washington’s launch of new probes on Wednesday into alleged unfair trade practices by several countries, including South Korea, which could lead to additional tariffs.
The original deal secured a reduction of tariffs on South Korean exports from 25% to 15% under Trump’s widespread levies.
Trump wrote on social media in January that he would raise the rate back to 25%, accusing the South Korean parliament of “not living up to its Deal with the United States” by failing to pass the bill.
That warning expedited the bill being put to a vote by lawmakers.
The bill easily passed in a vote supported by the ruling Democratic Party and main opposition People Power Party, by 226 votes to eight.
President Lee Jae Myung thanked MPs for passing the bill “for the sake of our economy and national security”.
“With the passage of the special bill, the institutional and legal foundation has now been established to implement the South Korea-US tariff agreement,” he added.
Lee’s office stated earlier on Thursday that Seoul will work to ensure South Korea is “not placed at a disadvantage compared with other major countries” following the US trade probe announcement.
The US Supreme Court recently struck down Trump’s global tariffs, ruling he had exceeded his authority in invoking emergency economic powers.
Trump has since used a different law to impose a new 10% duty, vowing to raise it to 15%, while his sector-specific tariffs on goods like steel, aluminum and autos remain unaffected by the court’s ruling.
