Talks today to review the KORUS trade deal come against the backdrop of the U.S. wanting to portray President Trump as being “crazy enough” to pull out of the deal. It also retains a focus on the trade deficit. That has led South Korea’s government to take a more hawkish stance and to call for the U.S. to “yield more”. U.S. ITC analysis from 2016 shows the U.S. deficit vs. South Korea would have been 55% higher without KORUS in 2015.

The talks arguably need to put deficit discussions to one side while avoiding a full review that would require Congressional consultation. A transact...