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US-S. Korea Trade Deal Finalized
By Reuters | 29 Oct, 2025

Trump proclaimed a finalized trade deal with Korean President Lee Jae Myung in which $350 billion investments in the US would be broken up into installments.

U.S. President Donald Trump is presented with the "Grand Order of Mugunghwa" and a replica gold crown during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

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 finalized 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.

Trump and Lee agreed that Seoul can split its promised $350 billion investment fund into $200 billion in cash to be paid in installments of $20 billion, 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.

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 Korea 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". 

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jihoon Lee and Ju-min Park in Gyeongju, South KoreaWriting by Josh Smith and John GeddieEditing by Lincoln Feast, Clarence Fernandez and Frances Kerry)