Trump says South Korea will invest $350 billion in US in exchange for lowering tariffs

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that South Korea has agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States in exchange for the U.S. lowering its tariff rates against the Asian country.

The announcement comes while Trump is on a nearly week-long Asian trip that includes stops in Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. The trip will culminate in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

Trump said in addition to the $350 billion, South Korea will purchase oil and gas from the United States "in vast quantities," and affluent South Korean business people and companies will make other investments that will total over $600 billion.

"Our Military Alliance is stronger than ever before and, based on that, I have given them approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine, rather than the old-fashioned, and far less nimble, diesel-powered submarines that they have now," the president continued in a post on Truth Social. "A great trip, with a great Prime Minister!"

Trump said in a separate Truth Social post that South Korea will be building nuclear-powered submarines in Philadelphia's shipyards. 

The U.S. will also share closely held technology with South Korea to help with the submarines, according to the Associated Press, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that if his country was equipped with nuclear-powered submarines then it could help with U.S. activities in the region.

The $350 billion deal will be divided into $200 billion in cash installments and $150 billion in South Korean shipbuilding. The cash installments will not exceed more than $20 billion annually. South Korean tariffs will be lowered to 15% in exchange.

The deal comes as Trump seeks to renegotiate Washington's trade relationships with China, Japan and South Korea, which are three of the U.S.'s most critical trading partners.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.