U.S. President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs on South Korea back to pre-trade agreement levels, citing the South Korean National Assembly's failure to complete the legal procedures necessary to implement a bilateral trade deal.

On Truth Social on Monday, Trump said that because the South Korean legislature was not living up to the agreement between Seoul and Washington, he would raise tariffs on automobiles, timber, pharmaceuticals and all other goods from South Korea from 15 percent to 25 percent.

Trump wrote that he and President Lee Jae Myung had reached what he described as a “great deal” for both countries on July 30 of last year and reaffirmed its terms during his visit to South Korea on October 29, 2025, questioning why the South Korean legislature has yet to approve the deal.

Trump appeared to refer to the pending parliamentary approval of South Korea's Special Act on the Management of Strategic Investment between South Korea and the United States, legislation required to implement Seoul’s pledged investments in the U.S. under the bilateral trade agreement. 

Following a South Korea–U.S. summit in Gyeongju on October 29 of last year, the two sides released a joint fact sheet on November 13 outlining agreements in the security and trade sectors, including South Korea’s commitment to invest 350 billion dollars in the U.S. in exchange for tariff reductions on South Korean automobiles and U.S. approval of its nuclear-powered submarine project.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed on November 14, the two countries agreed to retroactively apply tariff cuts from the first day of the month in which the implementing legislation was submitted to the South Korean parliament.

The ruling Democratic Party submitted the bill to the National Assembly on November 26, and the U.S. retroactively lowered tariffs on South Korean automobiles to 15 percent following a Federal Register notice on December 4.