President Donald Trump says the US and South Korea have reached a trade agreement. His social media post says the US will impose a 15-percent tariff on South Korean imports. That's the same rate the US will charge Japan and the EU. Trump had earlier threatened to slap South Korea with a 25-percent levy from August 1.

South Korea also agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States in projects selected by Trump and to purchase energy products worth $100 billion.

The deal, announced by Donald Trump, came after South Korean officials met with the US president on Wednesday, sparing one of the world’s biggest exporters from a 25 per cent tariff just a day before sweeping American levies on other countries were set to take effect.