Overview
- Trump and President Lee said their trade deal is pretty much finalized, keeping U.S. tariffs on Korean goods at 15% under the July framework as a formal signing and implementing papers remain pending.
- South Korea’s policy chief detailed a structure of $200 billion in cash and $150 billion in shipbuilding and industrial cooperation, capped at $20 billion per year to limit foreign‑exchange disruption.
- Officials said projects must meet commercial tests, pharmaceutical and lumber products get most‑favored‑nation treatment, semiconductor tariffs will be no less favorable than Taiwan’s, profits are split 50/50 before recoupment, and an investment committee chaired by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will vet deals.
- In Tokyo a day earlier, Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed agreements for F‑35 tactical missiles, a shipbuilding memorandum and a pact to bolster critical‑minerals and rare‑earth supply chains.
- Trump heads into a Thursday meeting with China’s Xi after negotiators outlined a Malaysia framework to pause steeper U.S. tariffs and Chinese rare‑earth controls, while North Korea’s cruise‑missile test preceded his arrival and no Kim Jong Un meeting will occur on this trip.