*

South Korea agrees to invest $350 billion in US projects,

Trump

says

*

South Korea to purchase $100 billion in US energy

products,

according to US

*

US sets tariffs on South Korean autos at 15%, officials

said

(Adds Lee comments in paragraph 6, policy chief comments in

paragraphs 8-9, Lutnick comments in paragraph 13-15)

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Ju-min Park

WASHINGTON/SEOUL, July 30 (Reuters) - President Donald

Trump said on Wednesday the U.S. will charge a 15% tariff on

imports from South Korea as part of a deal that eases, for now,

tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally.

The arrangement, announced shortly after Trump met with

Korean officials at the White House, came during a blizzard of

trade policy announcements ahead of a self-imposed August 1

deadline.

That is when Trump has promised higher tariffs will kick in

on U.S. imports from a range of countries. Imports from South

Korea, a powerhouse exporter of computer chips, cars and steel,

faced a 25% rate.

"I am pleased to announce that the United States of America

has agreed to a Full and Complete Trade Deal with the Republic

of Korea," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The negotiations were an early test for South Korean

President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June after a snap

election. He said the deal had eliminated uncertainty in the

export environment and set U.S. tariffs lower than or at the

same level as major competitors.

"We have crossed a big hurdle," Lee said in a post on

Facebook. Trump said Lee would visit the White House "within the

next two weeks" for his first meeting with the U.S. president.

Trump said South Korea had agreed to invest $350 billion in

the United States in projects selected by Trump and to purchase

$100 billion of liquefied natural gas and other energy products,

the U.S. president said. Both steps have been major priorities

for Trump, a Republican, in other trade deals.

Of the $350 billion investment fund, $150 billion was aimed

at a shipbuilding partnership while $200 billion would include

funds for chips, nuclear power, batteries, and biologics, Kim

Yong-beom, policy chief from the South Korean presidential

office, told a briefing.

Kim said some existing investment plans by South Korean

companies would be part of the fund, and that they had ensured

there would be safeguards over how the funds were used.

Reuters has not seen the text of the deal or analyzed its

terms.

It was not immediately clear how the investment deals would

be structured, where the financing would come from, over what

time frame they would be implemented and to what extent their

terms would be binding on the parties involved. Trump said

additional South Korean investments would be announced later.

Trump also said South Korea would accept American products,

including cars, trucks and agriculture into its markets and

impose no import duties on them.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on X that the

South Korean energy purchases would take place "over the next

3.5 years."

The U.S. tariff rate on South Korean autos would be set at

15% and their semiconductor and pharmaceutical exports would not

be treated more harshly than those from other countries, he

added. Steel, aluminum, and copper were not covered by the new

deal and U.S. tariff rates on those goods would remain

unchanged.

Despite claims by Trump and U.S. officials that non-tariff

barriers on agriculture would be eliminated, Kim said that South

Korea's rice and beef markets would not be open.

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, Industry

Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo had

been in Washington for talks with senior U.S. officials and were

believed to have met with Trump shortly before the deal

announcement.

Pressure had been mounting on South Korea since Japan

clinched a deal to cut Trump's threatened tariffs to 15% earlier

this month.

Amid the last-minute push by government officials to reach a

tariff deal, South Korea's Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) inked

a $16.5 billion chip deal with Tesla.

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution

also signed a $4.3 billion deal to supply Tesla with energy

storage system batteries, a person familiar with the matter told

Reuters.