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U.S., South Korea strike a new trade deal

WASHINGTON — The United States and South Korea have reached agreement on a new trade pact, the White House said on Tuesday. "We have come to an agreement in principle, and we expect to roll out specific details on that very soon," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a briefing. Her comments were the Trump administration's first confirmation that the two sides had reached an agreement in trade talks covering revisions to the U.S. South Korean Trade Agreement (KORUS) and a South Korean exemption from new U.S. metals tariffs. Seoul on Monday announced a deal to limit exports to the U.S. of South Korean steel, while extending high U.S. tariffs on any possible South Korean pickup trucks and increasing U.S. automakers' access to the Korean market. But details of the agreement have not yet been released by the U.S. Trade Representative's office, which led the negotiations for the United States after President Donald Trump last year called the 6-year-old bilateral pact a "horrible deal" that had doubled the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea since 2012. The deal is expected to permanently exempt South Korea from Trump's tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, but South Korea will have to reduce its steel exports to the United States by 30 percent from its average over the past three years to about 2.68 million tons. South Korea was the third largest steel exporter to the United States last year after Canada and Brazil. The agreement also was expected to double South Korea's import quota for cars meeting U.S. safety standards — not necessarily Korean standards — to 50,000 per manufacturer per year from 25,000 previously. The big challenge now would be getting unimpressed Korean consumers to buy them. The 25 percent U.S. tariff for pickup trucks, which was due to begin a phase-out starting in 2019, would be extended for another 20 years, according to South Korean officials. This would virtually ensure that any pickup truck contemplated by Korean automakers Hyundai or Kia for the U.S. market would be built in the United States.Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe and David LawderRelated Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Reuters Government/Legal Hyundai Kia

Kia slices K900 pricing amidst slow sales

Kia is learning the same hard lesson that Volkswagen learned so many years ago – it's not easy for a volume brand to sell a luxury car. The K900 luxury sedan has suffered through slow sales, moving just over 1,300 vehicles last year, and now the South Korean company is trimming the cost of entry to entice consumers. A new K900 Premium lowers the sedan's price by $5,000, from $59,500 to $54,500, not including a $900 destination charge, Motor Authority reports. While the price is lower, previously standard items, such as LED headlights, Nappa leather and a 17-speaker Lexicon stereo have been packaged as part of a new Luxury trim, which will maintain the original starting price. The two-tier scheme will force consumers to make a new decision about their K900, but that won't extend to the brute under the hood. A 5.0-liter V8 remains a standard item, making even the K900 Premium a tempting option for anyone that values straight-line thrust in a comfortable package. What are your thoughts? Is Kia merely rearranging the deck chairs on a sedan-shaped Titanic, or do you think trimming the price will do some good for the slow-selling K900? The new price is already reflected on Kia's consumer website, so head over, mess about and then come back and have your say about the move in Comments.

Kia and Amazon team up to sell at-home electric charging stations

Amazon really wants to be the one-and-only destination you go to for online shopping, and it's edging a little further into the car world with its latest partnership. Kia is teaming with the online retail giant to sell and install Level 2 chargers for your home. To buy the chargers on offer, you'll need to own/lease an electric or plug-in Kia, or at least have one on order. That includes the Niro EV, Soul EV, Niro PHEV and Optima PHEV. Amazon has previously partnered with Audi to offer installation services is preparation for the E-Tron rollout, but this version of the program is framed differently and meant for Kia owners. This is being done in an attempt to make buying and installing these kind of chargers easier. Most folks know and understand Amazon, so buying everything you might need to get an electric car charger up and running from them could be a comforting process. The benefit to this way of acquiring a 240-volt charger is that Amazon sets up the whole installation process. It'll call out an electrician to inspect your house to see if any changes need to be made to support it, then install the charger. A choice of three Level 2 car chargers are being sold through this partnership. The brands include Bosch, ChargePoint and JuiceBox, ranging from most to least expensive respectively. Access to a Level 2 electric car charger will make your life with an electric car all the better. The 2020 Soul EV (shown below) and 2019 Niro EV both get to a full charge in a little more than nine hours on a Level 2 plug versus a long 59-hour wait from a Level 1 charger. You can get by with Level 1 sometimes, but getting home on a depleted battery late at night then leaving early in the morning doesn't work. In these situations, juice at a faster rate is deeply needed. The chargers are available for purchase now. 2020 Kia Soul EV View 11 Photos