The Bank of Korea(BOK) has forecast that the U.S. will further enhance its protectionist trade policies this year.

The BOK's economic report on Sunday assessed that the U.S.' protectionist policies were rather moderate last year, noting Washington did not engage in overly aggressive measures, nor put China on its list of countries that manipulate its foreign exchange rates.

The central bank, however, expects the Trump administration to strengthen its protectionist policies this year, given that the U.S. midterm elections are set for late in the year, and policymakers are expected to assess numerous trade remedy rules that are up for review. 

The report said that the Trump administration strives to enforce fair trade rather than free trade with its partners in a bid to reduce the country's trade deficit. 

Trump broke away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) pact last year and made clear its intention to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Seoul and Washington have already kicked off talks to revise their bilateral free trade pact. 

The BOK report said that the U.S. is seeking bilateral FTAs with Japan and other partners since it pulled out of the TPP. 

It also said that since last year, Washington has started intensifying unfair trade probes to protect its industries and workers, pointing out that the U.S. Department of Commerce launched an investigation in April last year to determine if imported steel and aluminum products pose a risk to national security.