Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, VITAL BRIEFING—Trump expected to announce massive Korean investments Friday, (Sep 18, 2026)
South Korea adopted legislation in March to enable the fulfillment of the strategic investment commitments Seoul made to the U.S. last year in a move to reduce tariffs on its exports.
In this edition of Tariff Insights, Thomas Thompson takes a close look at the current state of an extensive, elaborate, and often contentious trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea.
As Thompson reports, it is anticipated that President Trump will soon be announcing major South Korean investments into various U.S. infrastructure projects which fulfill the Strategic Trade and Investment Deal the two countries reached in July 2025.
In the article, Thompson also identifies a number of complications and challenges that have been encountered as a new trading relationship continues to evolve between the two countries. These include:
The U.S. imposing a 10 percent “forced labor” tariff in addition to the prevailing most-favored-nation tariff rates of 15 percent for South Korean imports, as well as additional tariffs threatened by the Trump administration from time to time.
Statements from a South Korean government official who complained that the U.S. continues to change priorities and make additional demands, essentially moving the goalposts for U.S. investment.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pressuring chip manufacturers, Samsung and SK Hynix, to build production facilities in the U.S. shortly after the companies announced major developments in South Korea.
President Trump abruptly curtailing joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises in mid-August as he wrote warmly about North Korea’s leader on social media.
To read the piece, click on Trump expected to announce massive Korean investments Friday.
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