On Monday, Trump said he was pushing tariff rates from 15% to a flat 25%, citing delays by South Korea’s legislature in approving a trade deal with the United States. Hyundai Motor, the parent company, is the largest exporter of vehicles from South Korea to the US market.
In a post on Truth Social, the 47th US President said trade agreements were critical for the American economy and stressed that the US had already moved swiftly to reduce its tariffs in line with negotiated terms. “Our Trade Deals are very important to America. In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to. We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same,” Trump wrote.
Referring to South Korea’s domestic approval process, Trump said the country’s legislature had failed to honour the agreement reached with Washington. “South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States. President Lee and I reached a Great Deal for both Countries on July 30, 2025, and we reaffirmed these terms while I was in Korea on October 29, 2025. Why hasn’t the Korean Legislature approved it?” he said.
Escalating the tariff threat, Trump added that the delay had prompted the US to take unilateral action. “Because the Korean Legislature hasn’t enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative, I am hereby increasing South Korean TARIFFS on Autos, Lumber, Pharma, and all other Reciprocal TARIFFS, from 15% to 25%,” he said.
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Hyundai Motor India Limited reported total sales of 58,702 units in December 2025, marking a 6.6% year-on-year increase compared with December 2024. However, the performance reflected a sequential slowdown, as the company had sold 66,840 units in November 2025.On a month-on-month basis, sales declined across both domestic and export segments. Domestic volumes fell 15.7% to 42,416 units in December from 50,340 units in November, while export volumes eased 1.3% to 16,286 units from 16,500 units in the previous month.
Despite the sequential decline, exports continued to provide support, rising 26.5% year-on-year in December, broadly in line with the 26.9% year-on-year growth recorded in November. In November, Hyundai’s total sales had grown 9.1% year-on-year, aided by a 4.3% increase in domestic volume.
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