On November 14, 2025, the White House released a Fact Sheet providing details on The Korea Strategic Trade and Investment deal first announced in July 2025. The Fact Sheet provides an overview on the following issues:
- Rebuilding and Expanding Critical Industries – South Korea will make investments into various sectors of the U.S. economy, including, but not limited to, shipbuilding, energy, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence/quantum computing.
- Section 232 Tariffs – The United States will reduce its Section 232 sectoral tariffs on automobiles, auto parts, timber, lumber, and wood derivatives of South Korea to 15 percent. For any Section 232 tariffs imposed on pharmaceuticals, the United States will apply to originating goods of South Korea a tariff rate no greater than 15 percent. For any Section 232 tariffs imposed on semiconductors and manufacturing equipment, the United States will provide terms for such Section 232 tariffs on South Korea that are no less favorable than terms that may be offered in a future agreement covering a volume of semiconductor trade at least as large as South Korea’s, as determined by the United States.
- Reciprocal Tariffs – The United States will remove the supplemental reciprocal tariffs for certain products identified on a list of Potential Tariff Adjustments for Aligned Partners, such as generic pharmaceuticals, generic pharmaceutical ingredients, generic pharmaceutical chemical precursors, and certain natural resources unavailable in the United States. The United States will also remove tariffs on certain aircraft and parts from South Korea.
- Reciprocal Trade – South Korea will address non-tariff barriers and memorialize commitments and a plan of action to promote reciprocal trade. This will include, but not be limited to, the following: reducing caps on U.S.-built motor vehicles without requiring further modifications; addressing non-tariff barriers in trade in food and agricultural products; removing barriers concerning digital services; protecting intellectual property rights; and ensuring protection of international labor rights.
- Supply Chain Protections – the Fact Sheet also notes that both countries will work to strengthen economic and national security alignment to preserve competitiveness and maintain secure supply chains. This area of cooperation will include combating duty evasion, enhancing inbound investment and outbound investment regulations, and ensuring that international procurement obligations provide a benefit to those countries that have taken on the same commitments.
The Fact Sheet also provides additional information regarding modernizing the U.S.–South Korea military alliance as well as coordination on issues impacting the Korean peninsula and the larger Indo-Pacific region. Since the presidents of the two countries met on October 29, 2025, no substantive text of any formal trade agreement or deal has been released.