Trump's 'Trade Deficit Threat' Wi Seong-rak's 'Agrees with Trade Security Package' Rubio 'Rejects'
Although President Trump's tariff letter repeatedly mentioned the bilateral trade deficits the US has with other countries, calling them "unsustainable" and a "grave threat" to the country's economic security, National Security Director Wi Seong-rak announced to the US Secretary of State that he "agreed" with the 'Trade Security Package' and that 'Ruvio agrees with Korea's exception to Trump's tariffs', but Secretary Rubio actually directly stated his 'rejection' that day.
On the other hand, Director Wi seems to have stated his 'rejection' as 'communication for agreement' regarding Secretary Rubio's actual statement, saying, "Since there is an opportunity for an agreement before August 1, let's closely communicate for an agreement between Korea and the US during that period." This was officially announced by the Chief of Staff at the briefing of the Presidential Office, and during the meeting, Secretary Rubio responded to the Chief of Staff’s request for a “negotiation of a trade and security package” with “communication of agreement by letter.”
On the 9th, President Trump threatened to drag large and small countries into his trade war, adding them to the list of countries that will face steep tariffs in the coming weeks if a trade agreement with the United States is not reached.
On that day, President Trump posted a letter on his social media account informing the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Brunei, Libya, Iraq, Algeria, etc. that they should prepare for double-digit tariff rates.
Except for the country names and tariff rates, the letters to these countries were identical to the letters to 14 countries including Korea and Japan on the 7th.
President Trump’s April tariff offensive targeted about 60 countries that sell more goods to the United States than they buy from the United States, and he said, “This trade imbalance is evidence that foreign countries have been abusing the United States for a long time.”
The New York Times reported on the 9th that “Brazil and other trading partners targeted by President Trump on the 7th have joined the list of countries that will be subject to additional tariffs on August 1st, including Japan and South Korea,” and that “President Trump’s renewed threats to large and small trading partners suggests that he is sticking to the global tariff strategy he announced in early April to broadly punish countries for a variety of trade practices and policies that he considers unfair.”
The NYT continued, “President Trump’s letter repeatedly mentioned the bilateral trade deficits the United States has with other countries, calling them ‘unsustainable and a grave threat to our nation’s economic security.’” “In April, President Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, pledged to sign 90 trade agreements in 90 days, but it is still unrealistic for the United States to negotiate with all the countries the president has threatened to impose tariffs on at the same time, and Navarro acknowledged this at the White House on the 8th,” referring to the August 1st extension as the ‘Navarro decision.’ Peter Navarro, the architect of the Trump administration's tariffs, focused on attacking 'China's harm to American workers' and was the chairman of the National Trade Commission during the first term of the Trump administration.
He actively participated in the 'election invalidation' in 2017 and was imprisoned for 4 months for contempt of Congress. He was released just before the last presidential election and immediately became the leader of the Trump camp's trade war at a Trump campaign site. Secretary of State Rubio has nothing to do with tariff policy.
Navarro contributed decisively to President Trump's six major trade policy promotions during the first term of the Trump administration with the '100-day strategy', and these measures raised tariffs to levels not seen in 100 years as part of an attempt to curb America's dependence on imports and bring factories back to the United States.
National Security Director Wi Sung-lak met with Secretary Rubio at the White House on the 7th, and announced in an official briefing at the Presidential Office on the 9th that “we proposed consistent negotiations on the trade package, and Secretary Rubio agreed,” but did not hold a press conference with foreign media in the United States.
Secretary Rubio headed to Malaysia on the 7th, and a senior State Department official told reporters that day that “one of Rubio’s unique priorities during this Southeast Asian tour is to reaffirm Washington’s commitment to the region, not just for the sake of the region, but because it promotes American prosperity and security,” Reuters reported.
Reuters did not report on the “ROK-US Security Directors’ Meeting” between Rubio and Director Wi Sung-lak, and the US State Department and White House did not issue a press release about it.
Director Wi Sung-lak said on the 9th, “We proposed to advance the consultation by comprehensively considering this package, as it covers a wide range of issues, including trade, investment, purchases, and security (between ROK and the US),” and “Secretary Rubio agreed.” He announced that he “nodded his head” as “agreeing with the proposal for a comprehensive negotiation.”
The above director did not provide specific evidence for “agreeing” on this day, and in the press release from the Office of the President, he unilaterally stated that he “nodded” as “agreeing with the proposal for a summit.”
He continued, “Those who are mainly in charge of tariff negotiations on the U.S. side are focusing on tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers and are looking at the issue. (Trump) Even if you look at the letter, he consistently talks about tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers," and "However, there are various other factors between Korea and the US," and "(He) is telling the US to keep the entire alliance in mind and not to forget that what is ultimately important is what happens to the Korea-US alliance," confirming the 'strategy of demanding exceptions to Trump's tariff policy' and 'Ruvio's agreement on this.'
On the other hand, Director Wi officially announced that Secretary Rubio's actual remarks were, "Since there is an opportunity for an agreement before August 1, let's closely communicate for an agreement between Korea and the US during that period."
Since Secretary Rubio's remarks were about 'maintaining Trump's tariff policy and Korea complying with it,' this is completely different from Director Wi's 'agreement to consistently reach an agreement on the trade and security package,' and diplomatically, it is equivalent to a 'complete rejection' of the 'request for a comprehensive agreement transition.'
Director Wi told Secretary Rubio to 'early He demanded a ‘summit’ and said on the same day, “I suggested to the US side that we hold a South Korea-US summit as soon as possible to expedite the process of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement on various pending issues, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed his agreement.”
On the other hand, in the briefing on the same day, he said, “I had in-depth discussions with Secretary Rubio and the South Korea-US Security Director,” but “there is no specific date (for the summit) yet,” and “There is a consensus to hold it as soon as possible, but it is difficult to determine (the timing) because of issues such as the vacation season. (Negotiations) will be adjusted as they progress," he said in an official briefing.
During the briefing that day, Director Wi revealed that he met with the person he met on the US side, "I met again with Allison Hooker, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, whom I met while attending the NATO summit," confirming that Director Wi's US counterpart is the 'Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.'
President Lee Jae-myung said in a live press conference broadcast to the entire nation on the 3rd regarding Trump's tariffs, "We need to create a truly reciprocal result that is helpful to both sides, but it has not yet been clearly organized what the two sides want."
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