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US President Donald Trump holds up an executive order that he signed at the White House on April 20 authorizing an investigation into whether steel imports from South Korea

On Feb. 16, the US Department of Commerce included South Korea on a list of 12 countries that may be subjected to steep tariffs aimed at protecting the American steel industry as part of an investigation into steel imports under Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The Commerce Department argued that steel must be produced domestically as a material needed for maintaining key national infrastructure and that achieving this necessitates blocking excessive steel imports.

One of the three options the Department recommended for regulating imports was to impose a tariff of 53% on steel imported by 12 countries, including China and South Korea. Some of the major exporters of steel to the US, including Canada, Japan and Germany, were excluded from the measure. Although the US did not disclose the criteria used to compose this list, analysts at South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that “it seems to include countries that both export a lot to the US and import a lot of [cheap] Chinese steel.”

Given the “trade pressure” that the US has been imposing recently, it is doubtful whether the Trump administration considers South Korea to be a true ally. Last month, the Trump administration activated a safeguard that imposes tariffs as high as 50% on South Korean washing machines and solar panels. On Feb. 12, Trump singled out South Korea, China and Japan as countries that had “gotten away with murder for 25 years” while mentioning a type of retributive tariff known as a “reciprocal tax.”

During a meeting about fair trade at the White House on Feb. 13, Trump described the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement as a disaster. He also welcomed GM Korea’s announcement of plans to shutter its factory in Gunsan, even making the unverified claim that GM would be returning to Detroit. Trump does not seem to care at all about the position of workers who may be about to lose their jobs or about the government of its ally, which is worried about the closure of the factory.

While the Trump administration takes every opportunity to launch attacks about the trade imbalance between South Korea and the US in the manufacturing sector, it disregards the fact that the US has a much greater surplus in the balance on services. Meanwhile, Trump behaves with overt arrogance, making rude remarks without showing any concern for South Korea.

Since the two countries fought side by side in several wars, they are sometimes referred to as “blood brothers.” Even today, the bond between them is absolute when it comes to the US strategy in East Asia and affairs on the Korean Peninsula, including the North Korean nuclear program. South Korea and the US share interests related to both security and the economy, and they are not in a zero-sum relationship.

Even if South Korea bends over backward and concedes that there is a problem with trade with the US, this is a matter for thoughtful discussion between the two sides. What does Trump possibly hope to gain from such aggressive posturing and from the use of such crude language? Can a country that behaves in such a way really be called an ally?

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]