"Higher tariffs will increase costs of Hyundai and Kia, putting them at a disadvantage compared with their rivals in the United States," the senior trade ministry official told reporters in a background briefing, referring to Kia Motors.

The South Korean official said the tariffs would impact the renegotiation of the bilateral free trade deal with the United States that is currently underway.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Writing by Ju-min Park; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)