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South Korea touts ‘Make American Shipbuilding Great Again’ plan to avert Trump tariffs
The proposed multibillion-dollar ‘Make American Shipbuilding Great Again’ project has garnered ‘strong interest’ from the US
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South Korea is pitching the United States on a shipbuilding partnership as a key proposal to seal a last-minute agreement to avoid a 25 per cent tariff rate.
While details remain unclear, Yonhap News reported that South Korea has proposed a multibillion-dollar project dubbed “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” (Masga). South Korea’s Industry Ministry declined to comment.
“We confirmed the US side’s strong interest in the shipbuilding sector and the two countries agreed to work together to develop mutually acceptable terms that include shipbuilding cooperation,” South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement on Saturday.
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As countries across Asia clinched deals last week, Seoul’s negotiators have been racing to stay engaged with their US counterparts as Washington shifted its focus to the European Union and China. The US and EU announced a pact on Sunday that will see the bloc face 15 per cent tariffs on most of its exports to the US, including automobiles. The latest agreement, which follows a Japan deal last week, adds to the pressure on Asia’s fourth-largest economy to clinch a deal.
South Korea, where negotiations have been slowed by internal political turmoil, is one of the biggest Asian economies to still be without a deal. In addition to China, India is another major exporter in the region currently engaged in negotiations.
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South Korea’s finance and foreign ministers are set to meet with their US counterparts this week in a last-minute bid to close the negotiations, and the government in Seoul has said the two countries are committed to making a deal before US President Donald Trump’s August 1 deadline.
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