Trump urges chaebol to invest more in US
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Korea's business leaders at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul, Sunday. / Reuters-Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
U.S. President Donald Trump thanked Korean business leaders Sunday for building plants and creating jobs in the United States, and urged them to further invest in the world's largest economy.
“There's never been a better time to invest or do business and create jobs in America,” Trump said during a meeting with Korean business leaders at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in central Seoul, adding that the U.S. has eliminated regulations and cut taxes to draw more investments.
The meeting was attended by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, SPC Group Chairman Hur Young-in and a number of other business leaders in Korea.
During the meeting, Trump praised Lotte Chairman Shin for doing a “beautiful job” on the group's recent completion of a $3.1 billion ethylene plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and urged other leaders to stand up for applause.
“Our countries also enjoyed a thriving investment relationship. Since 2017, Korean investment in the United States has expanded by billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said.
He continued that the two countries “must remain vigilant and ensure that we keep moving forward to a more balanced trade relationship and further reduce the trade deficit,” as well as the “upgraded” free trade agreement between Korea and the U.S. will benefit workers in the two countries.
Upon request from the U.S., Seoul lowered trade barriers for American vehicles' safety standards in the revised deal, which took effect this year.
After the meeting, CJ Group Chairman Sohn said the group will invest $1 billion to expand its food and retail business in the U.S. and Lotte Chairman Shin also told reporters that the group is considering additional investment in the U.S. SPC Group will open 2,000 Paris Baguette bakeries in the U.S., which the group expects will create 60,000 jobs there.
The meeting was anticipated to be “pressure” for Korean companies because Trump was expected to strongly demand greater investment in the U.S. and for them to join the U.S.-boycott on Chinese info-tech firm Huawei.
However, Trump did not mention Huawei during the 30-minute meeting, but did highlight Korean firms' investments in the U.S. so far.
“The meeting seemed to be a moment for appreciating Korean business leaders for their investments in the U.S. and asking them to strengthen the two countries' economic relations,” said Mun Byung-ki, senior researcher at the Institute for International Trade at the Korea International Trade Association.
Since 2017, when Trump took office, Korean companies have invested $36 billion into the U.S.
Conglomerate officials also said they were “less pressured” because Trump did not mention Huawei during his speech. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are supplying semiconductors to Huawei, while LG is importing 5G network parts from Huawei.
Analysts said the meeting went relatively smoothly because during the G20 meeting the U.S. and China agreed to resume trade talks and U.S. companies will be allowed to continue selling to Huawei.
“For Trump, the most important thing is taking care of the country's trade deficit and creating jobs, and he uses tariffs for that,” Mun said. “However, tariffs are always a double-edged sword, which draws a backlash from global companies. That's why he resumed negotiations with China.”