The United States just said that it has the interest to renegotiate a 2012 free trade agreement with South Korea after a lopsided trading deal and relationship the past times. So far, this can be considered as the latest trade move by no other than the US President Donald Trump.
According to reports, South Korea can be considered as one of the major and key trade partners of the U.S. with the latter exchanging about $144.6 billion in services and goods with the said Asian country the past year. It can be recalled that during the administration of Former President Barack Obama, the 2012 free trade agreement was described as the most significant in 16 years. Even more, it was claimed that this would boost the businesses in the United States.
For President Donald Trump, he is very much interested in improving and changing the North American Free Trade Agreement. In fact, his administration threatened to put tariffs on products coming from foreign countries like steel. Apart from this, BBC reported that he even decided to withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement way back January.
The past years, the exports of American goods struggled since it set a decline of almost 3% since the deal took effect. In contrast, imports from South Korea have significantly increased by perhaps 23%. That's why the US Trade Representative claimed that the US must do better when it comes to trade deals with the Asian country.
Just last Wednesday, the US government called South Korea to deal with the concerns regarding the significant trade imbalance. In addition, President Donald Trump even became too blunt in his interview telling that it's a horrible deal.
South Korea remains as an important ally and key trading partner of the US and the current administration just called for a joint session regarding the matter. So far, representatives from South Korea could not be reached for remarks and comments regarding this renegotiation of a free trade deal.
