United States President Donald Trump attends the National Governors Association dinner at the White House in Washington, Saturday (local time). AP-Yonhap

Questions over trade linger between Korea and the United States, as U.S. President Donald Trump is showing no signs of relenting to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday (local time) that his tariff hikes based on International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal.

Condemning the court’s decision, Trump imposed a 10 percent global tariff through an executive order on Saturday, raising it to 15 percent just a day later. With the latest measure adding greater market uncertainties over the Korea-U.S. trade landscape, here are some key points that may help make sense of the volatile situation.

Which Korean export items are under the influence of the Supreme Court ruling?

The ruling affects Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” which were based on the IEEPA. Items that were levied under other legal grounds are not affected by his latest ruling.

Citing the IEEPA, the Trump administration announced blanket tariffs of 25 percent on Korea in April last year. Automobiles and auto parts were subject to a separate 25 percent tariff under a different legal basis.

In July last year, after Korea pledged $350 billion in investment in the United States, Washington agreed to lower the blanket tariff to 15 percent and reduce auto tariffs to the same level.

However, in January, citing delays in procedural steps by the Korean government in implementing the agreement, the administration threatened to raise the tariff on all Korean exports, including automobiles, back to 25 percent.

The Supreme Court ruling invalidated the blanket tariffs, but automobiles and semiconductors, which account for the largest share of Korea’s exports to the U.S., are governed under separate laws and are therefore not affected by the ruling.

Trump said in August last year that he would impose a 100 percent product-specific tariff on semiconductors, but the final rate has yet to be determined.

Source: Korea Times News