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Korea, U.S. agree on achieving 'expedient, meaningful' progress toward 'reciprocal' trade: USTR

Published: 26 Apr. 2025, 09:38

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun, right, shakes hands with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer before their talks in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2025. [MINISTRY OF TRADE, INDUSTRY AND ENERGY]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said Friday that Korea and the United States agreed to seek "expedient and meaningful" progress toward "reciprocal and balanced" trade during a bilateral meeting in Washington the previous day.

In a readout, the office cast the meeting between USTR Jamieson Greer and Ahn Duk-geun, Korea's minister of trade, industry and energy (MOTIE), as "productive." The two sides met as Seoul is angling to secure exemptions and exceptions from the Trump administration's "reciprocal" and sectoral tariffs.

"During the productive meeting, Ambassador Greer underscored the priorities of President Trump's America First Trade Policy, and both sides agreed on the importance of achieving expedient and meaningful progress toward reciprocal and balanced trade between the United States and Korea," the office said.

"The ministers discussed next steps between USTR and MOTIE and instructed their teams to engage in technical discussions next week," it added.

Greer noted his attendance at the ministerial Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on Korea's southern resort island of Jeju next month, the office said.

On Thursday, Ahn and Greer joined Seoul's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for "two plus two" consultations on tariff and other related issues.

During the high-level talks, the two sides concurred on joint efforts to craft a package agreement over U.S. tariffs and bilateral economic and industrial cooperation before President Donald Trump's temporary pause on reciprocal tariffs expires on July 8, according to Seoul officials.

They also agreed to have future talks focus on four categories: tariff- and non-tariff measures, economic security, investment cooperation and currency policies. The two countries plan to launch working-level talks on those issues next week.

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), U.S. officials plan to use a framework prepared by the USTR, which lays out broad categories for negotiation: tariffs and quotas, non-tariff barriers to trade, digital trade, rules of origin for products and economic security and other commercial issues.

The categories appeared similar to those that Seoul and Washington agreed on during their high-level talks on Thursday.

Within those categories, U.S. officials would spell out demands for individual nations, although the document could change as the administration gets more input, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The United States is looking to negotiate within the new framework with about 18 major U.S. trading partners on a rolling basis over the next two months, WSJ said.

Yonhap