Seoul: South Korea has not officially received a notice or explanation from the United States over President Donald Trump's move to raise reciprocal tariffs and auto duties on the Asian ally, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. Trump announced in a social media post that he plans to increase "reciprocal" tariffs and auto tariffs on South Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent. This decision, according to Trump, is due to South Korea's delay in completing domestic processes to implement a bilateral trade deal.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Cheong Wa Dae stated that "there has been no official notification or explanation of the details from the U.S. government so far." To address the situation, Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, is preparing to convene an interagency meeting to discuss South Korea's response.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, currently in Canada, plans to visit the United States as soon as possible to hold discussions with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick regarding the issue. This move comes after a trade deal reached between Seoul and Washington in July, which was finalized during President Lee Jae Myung's summit with Trump in late October.

Following the summit, a joint fact sheet was released on November 13, outlining agreements in the security and trade sectors. This included South Korea's commitment to invest $350 billion in the U.S. in return for tariff reductions on Korean automobiles and U.S. approval for Seoul's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines.

A memorandum of understanding was signed, stating that tariff reductions would be applied retroactively from the first day of the month when the implementing legislation was submitted to the South Korean parliament. The Democratic Party submitted the bill to the National Assembly in late November. Subsequently, the U.S. lowered tariffs on South Korean automobiles to 15 percent, retroactive to November 1, through a Federal Register notice issued in early December.