South Korean carmakers are bracing for the impact of the US steel, aluminium and auto tariffs. Our correspondent Shane Hahm gave us the latest reactions from Seoul.

SHANE HAHM SEOUL "South Korean trade minister and business leaders from the nation's auto sector, including the president of Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor, will be in Washington this week.

The purpose of their visit—to try and mitigate any fallout from auto tariffs that the U.S. Trump administration is preparing to roll out under what is known as Section 232.

According to government data, South Korea was the 5th largest exporter of cars to the U.S. last year. 30% of South Korea's exports to the U.S. are related to the auto industry. Mind you, South Korean cars are already exempt from U.S. duties under a 2012 bilateral free trade agreement. So, the purpose of this visit is to remind U.S. lawmakers and industry officials that U.S. demands in the auto sector are already reflected in the two countries' trade pact and that Korean automakers already contribute to the U.S. economy by building cars and employing workers stateside. The worry though, according to experts, is that new U.S. tariffs of 25% on car imports would still deal a heavy blow to not only Korean automakers, but intermediary suppliers of auto parts as well."

PROFESSOR KWAK RO-SUNG DONGGUK UNIVERSITY "It's well known that Korean cars mostly compete on price rather than quality. We're not talking about high-quality, premium cars. Therefore, if a 25-percent U.S. tariff is slapped on, we're going to see a 25-percent increase in sales prices. The effects of this will be immense."

SHANE HAHM, SEOUL "There's no question a trade war between the U.S. and China would have an adverse effect on South Korea, in which half the country's economy relies on exports and the two countries happen to be its two largest trading partners. The effects, in fact, are already making an impact, with the government here recently downgrading the economy's growth forecast this year from 3% down to 2.9%."