Trump to Announce Automobile Tariffs Today
Automobiles Are South Korea's Top Export to the U.S.; Tariffs Expected to Have Major Impact
U.S. President Donald Trump will announce automobile tariffs on the 26th (local time). South Korea is one of the top three automobile exporters to the U.S., and automobiles account for the largest share of its exports to the U.S. Due to this tariff measure, Korean companies including Hyundai Motor are expected to face direct impacts.
White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt stated that at 4 p.m. Eastern Time (5 a.m. Korean time on the 27th), President Trump plans to hold a press conference in the Oval Office to unveil the new automobile tariffs.
This automobile tariff measure will be announced one week before the scheduled reciprocal tariff announcement on the 2nd of next month. Earlier, on the 24th, President Trump told reporters that the automobile tariffs could be announced "quite soon, within a few days." The tariff rate is expected to be 25%, as President Trump previewed in February. Previously, the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which took effect on the 12th, were also set at 25% by President Trump.
South Korea, as the third-largest automobile importer to the U.S., could suffer significant damage from the automobile tariff measures announced on this day. According to statistics from the International Trade Administration (ITA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce, the value of automobiles imported by the U.S. from South Korea in 2024 was $36.6 billion, ranking third after Mexico ($78.5 billion) and Japan ($39.7 billion). The quantity of automobiles imported from South Korea in the same year was 1,535,616 units, ranking second after Mexico (2,961,598 units).
The share of automobiles in South Korea's exports to the U.S. is also the largest among all product categories. According to the Korea International Trade Association, South Korea's exports to the U.S. in 2024 reached a record high of $127.786 billion, of which automobile exports amounted to $34.744 billion, accounting for 27.1%, the largest share.
Bloomberg News analyzed, "Such tariffs would significantly escalate the president's trade battles and are likely to put many of the largest automakers in major U.S. trading partners, including Japan, Germany, and South Korea, in a difficult position," adding, "There is a risk of disrupting the operations of North American automakers that rely on highly integrated supply chains across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada."
Amid growing concerns over the U.S. automobile tariff bombshell, Hyundai Motor Group announced on the 24th at the White House a new investment plan of $21 billion (approximately 31 trillion won) over the next four years for the U.S. It is being closely watched whether Hyundai's large-scale investment in the U.S. will play a role in reducing trade pressures such as tariff rate relief in future individual tariff negotiations with the U.S.
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