Yesterday, South Korea’s negotiation team arrived in Washington to find a trade agreement with the U.S. administration. The meeting appears to be “very successful,” according to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Both parties schedule two more meetings next month.
South Korea’s delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Economy and Finance, Choi Sang-mok, and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ahn Duk-geun, met the U.S.’ team, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
This is an essential meeting to South Korea as it could face 25% U.S. reciprocal tariffs once the suspension period is over in July. As of now, the nation is facing the 10% baseline tariff and tariffs on specific products such as auto, a product South Korea wants to focus its talk on at this meeting.
Although both sides did not share much specific details on what they discussed, South Korea confirmed the request for exemptions on reciprocal and specific good tariffs, the address of trade imbalances, and the offer of cooperation on shipbuilding and energy.
The two nations now plan for another talk next week to create a pathway for forming a trade package called ‘July package.’ Choi also stated the plan of more meetings in the middle of May, with focus on tariffs and non-tariff measures, economic security, investment cooperation, and currency policy.
Still, there are some challenges for South Korea. First, the nation will hold a snap election on June 3, which may affect the talk. Second, its acting president, Han Duck-soo, stated the decision not to fight back against the U.S., citing a favour South Korea owed after the Korean War.
Finally, experts warned that South Korea under an acting president’s administration may be unable to make firm commitments on energy projects. The New York Times reported that the U.S. tried to push the Asian nation to make a commitment to a natural gas project in Alaska. However, the Minister of Energy denied this.
As for the U.S., its trade team will now need to prepare for a talk with delegates from several nations, who will likely approach them during the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Washington next week.
