US Trade Spat With South Korea Driven by Tech Laws, Gridlock

Gantry cranes and shipping containers at the Busan Port Terminal in Busan, South Korea.Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

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By Jennifer A Dlouhy and Josh Wingrove

January 27, 2026 at 8:24 PM UTC

Updated on

January 28, 2026 at 1:11 AM UTC

The Trump administration is demanding that South Korea take concrete steps to implement its six-month-old trade deal with the US in order to prevent tariffs from rising to 25%, according to US officials.

President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat marked the culmination of broader tensions in the trade relationship between Washington and Seoul, which have also been exacerbated by frustration over Korean digital-services regulations.