Q2 2026 U.S.-South Korea Trade and Investment Ledger

America’s new tariff framework comes alongside significant South Korean investment into strategic sectors across the United States, and Q2 2026 showed this pattern taking hold across energy, AI, and defense. Most notably, Samsung Heavy Industries, along with a consortium of Korean institutions, secured a USD 2.9 billion floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project for Samsung Heavy Industries to build off the coast of Louisiana—the first of its kind in the United States.

Likewise, other energy-related projects, particularly on the development of electrical grid infrastructure for AI data centers as well as cooperation on small modular reactors for nuclear power, are likely to shape the mold for other partnerships down the line as more commitments come in under the terms of the USD 250 billion tariff agreement.

Tom Ramage is a Fellow and Economic Policy Analyst at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI). The views expressed are the authors’ alone.

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