S. Korea Clinches US Trade Deal, But Analysts Remain Cautious Amid Lack of Details

After weeks of haggling and even a cross-continental chase, South Korea finally sealed a trade deal with the US, but analysts remain cautious on whether it can be seen as a win for the country.

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL -

On July 31, a day before the Aug 1 tariff deadline, US President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account that a "Full and Complete Trade Deal" had been reached with South Korea.

Under the agreement, the earlier-threatened tariff hike of 25 per cent was slashed to 15 per cent, on a par with what Japan and the European Union managed to negotiate with the US days earlier.

Dr Lee Mun-seob, an economist at the University of California San Diego, told The Straits Times that even though the deal would come as a relief for South Korean companies "at first glance", details of the deal would bear watching.

"Most of what we know right now is based on the US' interpretation. We have seen with the US-Japan agreement that the two governments framed the deal quite differently, and those nuances can be important," Dr Lee noted.

Indeed, while Mr Trump said in his post that South Korea had agreed to "accept American products including Cars and Trucks, Agriculture, etc", the Blue House's presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Yong-beom told reporters on July 31 that Seoul did not agree to open its markets in the contentious rice and beef sectors despite the US' push.

When asked about the discrepancy, Mr Kim said that the presidential office understood Mr Trump's words as a "political statement" and that "what matters are the talks held with the negotiating officials".