Emirates 24/7 — South Korea's parliament passed a special bill on Friday mandating Seoul to fulfill its pledge to invest $350 billion in the United States. The move comes just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration announced it is seeking new legal grounds to impose tariffs on South Korea and other nations, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated Trump’s previous executive decisions on import tariffs.
The bill, approved unanimously in a plenary session after passing through special parliamentary and judicial committees earlier this week, paves the way for a new government body to oversee investment projects linked to last year’s trade agreement with Washington. Seoul aims to finalize the trade deal after months of intense negotiations between the two allies regarding tariffs and investment commitments.
Delays in implementing the $350 billion commitment had drawn the ire of President Trump, who in January threatened to impose 25% tariffs on South Korean goods. While the new law provides some clarity, the trade outlook remains clouded. Overlapping the legislative progress, U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer announced a Section 301 investigation into over a dozen major countries, including South Korea, seeking a new legal basis for tariffs following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the president’s emergency tariff powers.