South Korea's central bank held interest rates steady on Thursday, as policymakers steered a cautious path amid concerns about financial stability risks stemming from rising household debt and economic pressure from U.

The country’s new president, in office for a little over a month, had just dispatched his senior deputies to Washington to try to work out a trade deal.

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he is levying tariffs against South Korea and Japan beginning in August. Trump

Trump said on Tuesday that South Korea should be paying for its own military protection, suggesting the US ally needed to pay more for the US troop presence there, a day after the tariff announcement.

Live updates and the latest news as Trump and Netanyahu meet at White House to discuss Iran and the U.S. sends tariff letters to trading partners.

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U.S. President Donald Trump turned his trade ire against Brazil on Wednesday, threatening Latin America's largest economy with a punitive 50% tariff on exports to the U.S. and ordering an unfair trade practices investigation that could lead to even higher tariffs.