Respect value of alliance

Korea's negotiations on the U.S. tariffs ran into a hurdle as President Donald Trump said that a 25 percent tariff would be imposed on Korean imports in a letter addressed to President Lee Jae Myung. It's an unfortunate development, coming just as Korean negotiators were working headlong to not just delay the start of tariffs, set for Wednesday, but also to exempt or reduce them, such as the 25 percent import taxes already imposed on cars, steel and car parts. There is a particularly mortifying element in Trump imposing these tariffs on Seoul, a decadeslong partner with Washington and a free trade partner whose leading firms have made significant direct investments in the U.S. Japan, another regional U.S. ally, received a nearly identical letter. Ironically, Trump provided a reprieve for the Korean negotiators by extending the tariff deadline to Aug. 1 through an executive order detailing when the changes take effect. He demonstrated his unconventional methods in trade negotiations, using his social media platform announce the letters sent to specific nations and unilaterally setting tWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times