Trump to fix broken U.S., will South Korea break down? [Y Record]

■ Host: anchor Lee Jung-seop, anchor Cho Ye-jin, anchor
■ Starring: Lim Eun-jung, professor of international studies at Gongju University, and Lee Jung-hwan, professor of economic finance at Hanyang University,

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN YTN News Special Adviser - 47th U.S. President Trump Elected] when quoting.

◇Anchor> Looking at Korea's trade situation, isn't Korea highly dependent on exports? Last year, the trade surplus with the U.S. hit $45.5 billion, the highest. Based on this, there were concerns that Trump might target Korea.

◆Lee Jung-hwan> Looking back at the first Trump period, trade deficit and exchange rate issues continue to emerge. It's the influence of the United States that the trade deficit continues. In fact, the Trump administration is referred to as America First, but how does this trade deficit affect the United States? As there is a big logic that it is taking away jobs in the United States, there is a logic that tariffs should be imposed. Pressing with trade deficits is a basic style because the logic that cheap goods are destroying the manufacturing base of the United States is one of the easiest logic of the Trump economy. Therefore, in order to ease the trade deficit, the contents of the basic business relationship are very emphasized, saying that if we buy things, you should buy other things. In basic economics, it's efficiency. They say that making and selling goods at low prices will increase wealth worldwide. Given the framework of America First, we will raise tariffs under the great logic that if imports increase from abroad, the country's manufacturing base will collapse. There's this basic point of view. And we have to talk about the exchange rate, and the exchange rate is also what we often talk about as the won is weakening, but if the won weakens, it can be burdened. Because things made in Korea can be sold cheaply when going abroad, it has become too devalued with this exchange rate, and it has continued to devalue China. So, there is a story that the first Trump administration has used a lot of such policies, such as putting a lot of pressure on them through the position that the value is too low and pointing out exchange rate adjustments.

Under the current situation, I will generally raise tariffs by 10-20% if the policy is implemented. Then, we have a very strong tariff policy on China to raise it to 60%, but what we suffer from is that if we raise this direct tariff, we suffer damage. And then it's called the tariff war, and the fact that the tariff rate goes up to 60% is that the United States will not only raise it against China, but China will also impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States. As economic relations weaken, trade decreases and China's economy is not good recently, so if trade decreases like this, Korea also exports a lot of intermediate goods to China, which can adversely affect exports. In fact, there are two aspects, but there are fewer direct exports to the United States. And I think we can tell you that if the U.S.-China relations deteriorate through retaliatory tariffs, China's economic growth rate will decrease and our exports of intermediate goods will decrease. You can understand that the story of Article 62 earlier is the result of estimating that if these tariff retaliation continues, it will affect not only the United States but also China, which will affect Korea's entire exports.

◇ Anchor> And as I mentioned a while ago, the issue of defense contributions, about the U.S. military, because South Korea is so beneficial. I've been arguing that I need to pay more because it's a country that lives well. I'm sure they'll ask for a lot of raises this time, right?

◆ Lim Eun-jung> Trump's language is very simple. Simple is a country that lives well even if it is an ally, a rich country, looking forward to a concise message about the ordinary, hard-working people of the United States who support them. It's not only about whether it's right to use our financial resources at one time, but also about tens of thousands of our sons and daughters. Of course, it would be no exaggeration to say that the authority of the president of the United States is absolute.E. Especially when it comes to security policy. Even so, it's hard for us to understand where these figures were based that they had to pay $10 billion unilaterally in defense contributions.Anyway, he's looking at the American electorate and he's throwing these numbers. In short, I would like to say that even though Trump will show that attitude as an elected politician in the United States, there are parts that must be carried out through sufficient procedures rather than contracts between individuals, individuals, and individuals. I would like to say that the Korean government needs to be more preemptive.

It's a Trump-style strategy after being too defensive or defensive. When making a deal, you throw 10 times, 10 billion dollars, and as I said, you present unfounded numbers and cut them from there. If you try to do business with each other in a fun way in the market, you can do that. It's that kind of approach, and there's something that I think actually worked and we reacted to it. But this time, it may be something that we have to endure, but I think we need to remind ourselves that if we go too defensive or defensive, we can get involved.

Excerpted from
: Lee Sun Digital News Team Editor

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