The White House released the official fact sheet detailing the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement reached at the October 29 summit Friday. Standouts include tariff reductions on South Korean automobiles and autoparts to 15%, while some questions about timing remain.

While U.S. President Trump stated in July the agreement to lower tariffs on South Korea to 15% in exchange for large investments in the United States, high rates remained in place on automobiles – one of the country’s chief exports. This led to persistent disagreements between the two countries regarding investment commitment arrangements.

As per Yonhap News Agency, the recently uploaded joint fact from the South Korean-U.S. summit includes previously discussed security and trade agreements. However, the Trump administration has decided to reduce tariffs on automobiles and parts, logs, lumber, and wood products to 15%. However, the document doesn’t specify when the change from the current 25% tariff on automobiles and parts will shift to the lower rate.

The United States also intends to eliminate 15% reciprocal tariffs on generic drugs, natural resources unavailable domestically, and aircraft and components.

Regarding semiconductor tariffs, the U.S. assured  South Korea that it won’t be subject to less favorable treatment than other countries with which it has agreements, though this comparison applies only to countries with a higher semiconductor trade volume than Korea. 

Finally, on investments in the United States, the report says South Korea will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to invest a total of US$350 billion. Of that, US$200 billion will be invested in joint strategic investment projects, with the additional US$150 billion in shipbuilding. The MOU also states annual investments cannot exceed US$20 billion, and the U.S. must give priority to South Korean firms when selecting partners for these investment projects.