The Tamesis
South Korea’s parliament on Thursday passed a bill that would pave the way for the country to invest $350 billion in the United States as part of a trade deal with President Donald Trump.
The deal was reached in November in exchange for a reduction in U.S. tariffs on South Korean exports from 25% to 15%.
but trump Being threatened on social media In January, he raised interest rates to 25%, saying that South Korea’s parliament failed to pass an investment bill and “failed to fulfill its agreement with the United States.”
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The warning led to the bill being expedited and voted on by members of parliament. The bill was easily passed with 226 votes to 8 with the support of the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People’s Power Party.
Seoul’s investment commitments include $150 billion for shipbuilding cooperation and the rest for strategic areas such as semiconductors.
The bill was passed after Washington launched a new investigation this week Suspected of unfair trade practices Countries, including South Korea, may impose additional tariffs.
‘For our economy’
President Lee Jae-myung thanked lawmakers 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 laid for the implementation of the Korea-U.S. tariff agreement,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Lee Myung-bak’s office said Seoul would work to ensure South Korea “is not disadvantaged compared with other major countries” after Washington announced an investigation into trade practices.
This move follows the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s global tariffssaying he exceeded his authority by invoking emergency economic powers to impose them on nearly all countries.
The US leader has since enacted a different law imposing new 10% tariffs and vowed to raise the level to 15%.
However, Trump’s industry-specific tariffs on goods such as steel, aluminum and automobiles remain unaffected by the Supreme Court ruling. South Korea’s export-reliant economy is closely tied to trade in these goods, aspects that were not affected by the court ruling.
- Vishakha Saxena Additional Editor AFP
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