High tariffs on the two nations will drive a wedge between America and its strongest allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
O ne of the most common objections to free trade is that it could hinder national defense. Free trade allows countries to specialize in and export goods they are most efficient at producing and to import goods they are less efficient at producing. While specialization and trade improve a country’s economic conditions, some people object when vital inputs for national defense are produced in a potentially adversarial country. If a war broke out, losing access to those inputs could be devastating.
But interfering with free trade can be dangerous to national security, too.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s recently announced tariff increases on South Korea and Japan are counterproductive to American prosperity and security interests. The tariffs will be damaging for all the reasons economists usually give. Japan and South Korea both rank in the top ten countries for imports and exports with America. Losing out on this trade would make America poorer and lead to inefficient uses of capital.
These tariffs are not retaliatory. Tariffs in South Korea are lower than 1 percent on American imports, and tariffs in Japan on American imports are around 3 percent. Rather, the new round of tariffs is a response to bilateral trade deficits, which don’t harm Americans.
South Korea and Japan are important allies of the United States, and these unprovoked, dramatic tariff increases will increase tensions within those alliances with no benefit for Americans. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Annual Threat Assessment for 2025 lists China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as the most threatening major state actors to the United States and has done so consistently for the past five years. China, Russia, and North Korea border the Pacific Ocean. If America were militarily challenged by a state actor, it would likely happen in the Pacific.
In such a scenario, we would want to be able to rely on the strategic alliances we have in the region. Our three strongest allies there are South Korea, Japan, and Australia. Japan hosts 52,800 American soldiers, and South Korea hosts 22,800, putting them in first and third place for American troops stationed abroad. The Trump administration’s new tariffs on South Korea and Japan needlessly strain two of our most valuable strategic partnerships.
As long as China and North Korea threaten the United States and its interests, South Korea and Japan will play a vital role in American defense policy. United States Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson has stated that U.S. forces in South Korea help America overcome the “tyranny of distance” in the Pacific, likening the presence to a “fixed aircraft carrier.” South Korea also pays approximately 18 percent of the cost of hosting American forces to defray the cost paid by the United States, and purchases billions of dollars in American military equipment every year.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said earlier this year that “Japan would be on the front lines of any contingency we might face in the Western Pacific, and we stand together in support of each other.” Thus, the new tariffs are an economic mistake and a strategic disaster.