Trade ministry rebuts Trump's claim of S. Korea's average tariff being four times higher than U.S.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.

U.S. President Donald Trump's first speech to Congress since returning to power covered a host of issues ranging from global tariffs to Ukraine, but perhaps the matter catching the eyes of people in this part of the world the most was his portrayal of Korea as a country with "unfair trade practices."

Our Kim Bo-kyoung explains reactions to this here in Seoul.

U.S. President Trump targeted some countries over what he called "unfair trade practices," specifically including South Korea.

This was during his first address to a joint session of Congress since his inauguration in January on Tuesday local time.

"South Korea's average tariff is four times higher. Think of that four times higher. And we give so much help militarily and in so many other ways to South Korea."

Trump did not give specific evidence of his assertion, and South Korea's trade ministry was quick to rebut this.

According to the trade ministry, Washington and Seoul have eliminated tariffs on most goods, under the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement that took effect in 2012,

making its average tariff rate on imports from the U.S. stand at point-seven-nine percent in 2024.

This rate is set to drop further this year in accordance with an annual tariff reduction plan stipulated in the agreement.

For reference, the ministry added that the tariff rate on imported manufactured goods from the U.S. is zero-percent.

In terms of what Trump said,

the ministry assumed he would have been referring to Korea's most favored nation treatment tariff which stood at 13-point-4-percent in 2024, that is four times that of the U.S.'s 3-point-3-percent.

But this rate, applies to WTO member countries without bilateral agreements, and thus is not applied to goods imported from the U.S.

Amid such a potential tug of war on tariff schemes, Trump said he aims to "resurrect" America's shipbuilding industry, planning to offer special tax incentives to bring the industry back to the U.S., while also putting pressure on South Korea to participate in a natural gas pipeline project in Alaska.

"My administration is also working on a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska, among the largest in the world, where Japan, South Korea and other nations want to be our partner, with investments of trillions of dollars each."

One expert says, however, that taking part in such projects would not be able to fully prevent Trump's reciprocal tariff scheme,

and neither would the FTA be able to do it.

"Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Colombia and actually did on Canada and Mexico. All three countries have FTAs with the U.S., so having an FTA does not necessarily mean Korea can avoid such a measure."

Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.