Washington, April 25
South Korea and the United States concurred on joint efforts to craft a "package" agreement on new U.S. tariffs, and economic and industrial cooperation issues by early July, Seoul's finance minister said, as the allies held high-level trade talks in Washington, DC.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok told reporters that the two sides agreed to pursue the deal by July 8 -- when U.S. President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on "reciprocal" tariffs ends -- through talks focusing on four categories -- tariff- and non-tariff measures; economic security; investment cooperation; and currency policies, reports news agency.
Toward that end, Seoul's industry ministry and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) plan to start working-level talks next week, while USTR Jamieson Greer is set to visit South Korea for high-level talks on the margins of the ministerial Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation talks slated to kick off on May 15.
These broad agreements came as Choi and Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Greer for the "two-plus-two" trade consultations that took place at the Treasury Department for around 85 minutes.
"Our side assesses that the two sides have come to share an understanding that they will craft a 'July package' aimed at removing (U.S.) tariffs (on South Korea) by July 8 when the pause on reciprocal tariffs ends," Choi told Korean reporters at the South Korean Embassy.