U.S. President Donald Trump is drawing attention to the impact of mutual tariffs ahead of an announcement on April 2 (local time) regarding trade barriers for 59 trading partners, including South Korea.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released the '2025 National Trade Barriers Report' on the 31st. This is a document submitted annually by the USTR, which is not new in itself, but it holds greater significance this year as President Trump approaches the announcement of mutual tariffs. The mutual tariffs for the U.S. are expected to be set considering the tariff rates and non-tariff barriers of each country.
Looking at the details regarding South Korea, the 2025 NTE report first noted that the mutual tariffs on most traded goods were eliminated as a result of the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This can be seen as a correction to President Trump’s previous statement that 'South Korea's average tariff is four times higher (than the U.S.).'
However, the report detailed issues related to beef, imported automobiles, network usage fees, and online platform laws. In particular, it raised the issue of 'countertrade' for the first time, which refers to the trade method where, when purchasing weapons or military goods and services worth over $10 million from abroad, counterparties obtain technology transfer or parts manufacturing, export, or military support.
In addition, regarding investment restrictions, it mentioned investment restriction measures in the electricity sector, noting for the first time that foreign ownership of nuclear power is prohibited.
Ahead of the imposition of mutual tariffs, the South Korean government recently dispatched high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, including Minister Ahn Duk-geun, to the United States to express its position. However, the NTE report noted various systems that U.S. corporations claim are 'trade barriers' in a broad manner.
The non-tariff barriers listed in the report could potentially be used as a basis for explaining the tariff rate that President Trump will set for South Korea when imposing mutual tariffs. While there is interest in how the 'non-tariff barriers' mentioned in the report will be reflected in the mutual tariff rates proposed by Trump, there are also suggestions that the related content may not have a decisive impact.
Meanwhile, President Trump has hinted that negotiations regarding mutual tariffs may only be possible after the announcement. On the 28th, he met with reporters on his private plane and said regarding the mutual tariff negotiations, 'I am open to it if we can get something,' but when asked if negotiations were possible before the announcement of mutual tariffs, he replied, 'No. Probably after that.'
South Korea ranks among the top 7 to 8 countries that the U.S. is reporting a trade deficit with. For this reason, there is a significant possibility that it will be included in the 'Dirty 15,' a term referring to the 'top 15% of countries causing significant trade deficits for the U.S.'
Given this situation, there are analyses suggesting that South Korea may need to enter negotiations to create a new agreement that either replaces or dramatically modifies the current U.S.-South Korea FTA if mutual tariffs are imposed.