Tami Overby, Senior Counselor at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, analyzes the outcomes of the Trump-Lee meeting on the sidelines of APEC, and the long-awaited investment deal and what it signals about the next phase of the U.S.-Korea relationship. She explains how Washington’s green light for South Korean nuclear-powered submarine development fits into alliance strategy and how it may complement U.S. shipbuilding priorities at a moment when industrial capacity and defense production are becoming central to national security planning.

The conversation also examines Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping and why Tami believes that the semiconductor export controls and purchase agreements could hold at least through next year. She discusses the unknowns that still surround the U.S.-Korea trade agreement, including how tariffs and investment incentives will be implemented, and what further clarity businesses are looking for as capital begins to move.

The discussion also explores the growing importance of critical minerals to U.S. and Korean defense industries, and what Korea’s path as next year’s APEC host suggests about its long-term position in the Indo-Pacific.

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