South Korea is taking steps to address its trade imbalance with the United States following the imposition of new tariffs by Washington. To ease the burden of these tariffs, Seoul is exploring ways to increase its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S.
According to a Bloomberg report, the South Korean government is working on several initiatives aimed at reducing its trade surplus with the U.S. The country hopes that increasing imports will convince President Trump to lift the newly imposed tariffs. The focus is on boosting imports rather than cutting exports.
“We need to adjust the U.S. trade balance, which is a surplus from our perspective, to reduce U.S. tariffs,” South Korea’s Trade Minister, Cheong Inkyo, told reporters before a two-day trip to Washington. “It is difficult to reduce exports, so we need to increase imports.”
South Korea’s economy is heavily export-driven, a strategy that has been successful until now. Last year, the country posted a $55.7 billion trade surplus with the U.S., placing it in the category of “abusers” as President Trump has called countries with trade surpluses. In response, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on South Korean imports, one of the highest rates.
“We’ve already expressed our regret about this, and we will raise the issue that the U.S. calculated such a high tariff rate for a country that has been implementing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement for 12 years,” Cheong added.
Last week, President Trump announced tariffs ranging from 10% to 49%, with some of the U.S.’s biggest trade partners and closest allies facing higher rates than expected. For example, India was hit with a 26% tariff, while China, considered a geopolitical rival, received a 34% additional tariff rate.
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