GYEONGJU, South Korea--Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung finalised details of their fraught trade deal at a summit in South Korea on Wednesday, and the U.S. president also sounded an optimistic note about a looming summit with China's Xi Jinping.
“We made our deal, pretty much finalised it," Trump said at a dinner with Lee and other regional leaders on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific forum.
The allies unveiled a deal in late July under which Seoul would avoid the worst of U.S. tariffs on its imports by agreeing to pump $350 billion of new investments into the United States in return for lower tariff rates. But talks over the structure of those investments had been deadlocked and both sides had played down expectations for a deal during Trump's visit.
"Prospects were not bright even last night, and there was dramatic progress on the day," Kim Yong-beom, South Korea's top presidential policy chief, told reporters, without providing further details.
Trump and Lee agreed that Seoul can split its promised $350 billion investment fund into $200 billion in cash to be paid in instalments and capped at $20 billion per year, Lee's aides said. The other $150 billion is to be spent on investments in shipbuilding, which South Korea has promised to help Trump restore.
The South Koreans said the two sides agreed to split profits 50/50 before the initial investments are recouped, and to only pursue commercially viable projects. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would head an investment committee to assess potential projects.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the details of a Korea trade deal, which needs to be ratified by South Korea's parliament.
Arriving from Tokyo hours after North Korea test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile, Trump was given a lavish welcome by Lee in Gyeongju, a historic city hosting this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. His talks with Xi are set for Thursday in the port city of Busan.
Speaking to reporters en route to South Korea, Trump dismissed the North Korean missile test and said he was squarely focused on his meeting with Xi, leader of the world's second-largest economy."I think we're going to have a very good outcome for our country and for the world, actually," Trump said.
He added that he expects to reduce U.S. tariffs on imports of Chinese goods in exchange for a commitment from Beijing to curb exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals. The United States could halve the levies of 20% on Chinese goods it now charges in retaliation for the export of such chemicals, the Wall Street Journal said.
China's foreign ministry said the meeting of the two leaders would "inject new momentum into the development of U.S.-China relations," and Beijing was ready to work together for "positive outcomes".
Skipping the main APEC summit, Trump attended a dinner on Wednesday with Lee and other countries' leaders. He was due to meet Xi before departing on Thursday.
