The United States has decided to lower its reciprocal tariffs on South Korea from the current 25 percent to 15 percent under the condition that Korea invests $350 billion in the U.S., according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The deal is that Korea will give to the U.S. $350 billion for investments owned and controlled by the U.S., and selected by myself, as President,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Trump also added that Korea has agreed to purchase $100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other energy products and will invest a large sum of money for their investment purposes.

“This sum will be announced within the next two weeks when the President of Korea, Lee Jae-myung, comes to the White House for a bilateral meeting,” he said.

“It is also agreed that Korea will be completely open to trade with the U.S., and that they will accept American product including cars and trucks, agriculture, etc.”

Prior to Trump’s announcement, Korea’s delegation – including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan, and Trade Negotiation Chief Yeo Han-koo – met with Trump at around 4:30 p.m. at the White House.

The delegation was seen leaving the White House around 6 p.m. and Trump posted the announcement at 6:16 p.m.

Earlier, Trump had warned that unless Korea reached a deal with the U.S., reciprocal tariffs of 25 percent would take effect on August 1.

In response, the Korean government has been negotiating with the U.S. to reduce reciprocal tariffs and item-specific duties on products like automobiles and steel.

In this announcement, Trump did not mention item-specific tariffs on Korea’s key export products to the U.S., such as automobiles and steel.

The 15 percent reciprocal tariff that Trump mentioned matches the rate the U.S. has agreed to with Japan and the European Union (EU).

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