Trump auto tariffs could threaten GM Korea

New auto tariffs under consideration by President Trump could threaten General Motors’s struggling South Korean operation, just after the company agreed on a bailout for its Asian branch. 

The Trump administration is currently weighing the possibility of tariffs on imported automobiles and car parts, and investigating whether imports could threaten national security. 

The White House announced its move just two weeks after GM partnered with a South Korean state bank in a $7 billion bailout for GM Korea, in exchange for the company’s pledge to remain in the country for at least another decade and purchase more Korean-made auto parts, according to Reuters. 

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New tariffs would put a strain on GM Korea, the company’s largest Asian export center outside of China, which ships nearly a quarter of its products to the U.S. 

GM Korea’s U.S. exports are also reportedly set to rise under the corporate agreement, which also mandates that the overseas plants produce two more models popular in America. 

Earlier this year Trump praised GM for closing a plant in South Korea, crediting his protectionist trade policies. The company said it would not reopen any of its U.S. manufacturing plants, despite suggestions by the president to move auto jobs “back from Korea to Detroit.”