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US to cut 5,000 troops stationed in Germany... Tariffs virtually restored on EU passenger cars and trucks
S. Korea, experienced Trump's tariff hike threat... Closely monitoring US trends targeting 'countries refusing troop deployment'
The Donald Trump administration in the United States appears to be openly escalating security and trade retaliatory measures against Europe, which has largely refused requests for contributions related to the war against Iran.
It has decided to reduce US troops in Germany, which criticized its conduct of the Iran war and took an uncooperative stance, and announced tariff increases on passenger cars and trucks produced in the European Union (EU).
The US Department of Defense (War Department) confirmed to Yonhap News on the 1st (local time) that it plans to reduce US forces stationed in Germany by about 5,000 troops, following the instructions of Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The number of US troops stationed in Germany is approximately 35,000 to 36,000. This reduction of about 14% of US troops in this strategic stronghold against Russia will be completed within 6 to 12 months, Yonhap News reported.
This comes just two days after President Trump foreshadowed on May 29th, "The United States is looking at the possibility of reducing troops in Germany," adding, "A decision will be made soon."
The day before, President Trump did not rule out the possibility of reducing US troops stationed in other European countries uncooperative or critical of the Iran war, such as Italy and Spain, in addition to Germany.
President Trump also announced today that he would raise tariffs on passenger cars and trucks from the European Union (EU) to 25% starting next week.
This is a declaration to restore passenger car and truck tariffs to the level prior to the trade agreement concluded between the US and the EU on July 27 last year (27.5% including basic tariffs).
The agreement at the time was that the EU would purchase US energy and military equipment worth $750 billion and make an additional investment of $600 billion, on the condition that the US would lower reciprocal tariffs to 15% and uniformly reduce item-specific tariffs, such as for automobiles, to 15%.
President Trump cited "the fact that the EU is not complying with the trade agreement we fully agreed upon" as the basis for this measure.
However, the fact that the US has embarked on what is virtually a retaliatory measure in the security sector, following trade, is interpreted as stemming from President Trump's dissatisfaction with the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) given the recent conflict between the US and Europe.
President Trump has previously expressed disappointment, stating that he would "remember" that major European member states of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, refused requests to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump also responded in a strong tone to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the entire US was being "humiliated" by Iran, by saying, "He doesn't know what he's talking about."
It is as if the US is using the security umbrella it provides to Europe and price competitiveness in the US market (imposing tariffs) as "weapons" to intensely pressure its European allies.
In this context, it is noteworthy what impact this will have on Asian allies such as South Korea and Japan, whom President Trump had asked to deploy troops to Iran.
South Korea and Japan are participating in international efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but have taken a cautious stance on President Trump's request for troop deployment. This is virtually tantamount to non-compliance.
President Trump has, in fact, repeatedly mentioned the security contributions of US troops stationed in South Korea and Japan when expressing disappointment with allies during the Iran war.
Although South Korea and Japan were not openly critical of the Iran war, it is difficult to say that they are completely out of the firing line for security and trade retaliation, given that President Trump has categorized them as 'countries that did not help when needed'.
It is reportedly not yet perceived that the conflict between the US and South Korea/Japan has escalated to the same extent as with Europe in the Trump administration.
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense stated on May 30th, immediately after President Trump's remarks first hinting at the withdrawal of US troops from Germany, that "there have been no discussions whatsoever between South Korea and the US regarding the reduction of US Forces Korea."
However, considering President Trump's impulsive and unpredictable nature, it is not possible to be complacent, and thus diplomatic and trade channels are closely monitoring developments.
In South Korea's case, President Trump threatened in January to restore item tariffs, such as on automobiles, and other reciprocal tariffs to 25% due to delays in fulfilling investment commitments to the US under the trade agreement, making it difficult to ease tension.
Recently, observations have been raised by US think tanks and others that an unusual current is forming in US-Korea relations, as differences in perspective between the two countries have emerged regarding controversies surrounding US restrictions on intelligence sharing with North Korea and Coupang's personal information leakage incident.
Compared to Japan, South Korea has no constitutional restrictions on overseas troop deployment, making it relatively free, and Japan is actually a step ahead of South Korea in terms of implementing the US trade agreement, having announced its first investment destinations in the US.
Therefore, concerns are also raised that it is difficult to completely rule out the possibility that President Trump might target South Korea as his next target among allies, rather than Europe.
However, there is also an accompanying expectation that the US side will be aware that excessively pressuring or dealing emotionally with South Korea could be a disadvantage in terms of 'maintaining leverage' ahead of the US-China summit.
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