Lutnick says he could hear 'expletives' out of Korea following trade deal with Japan
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testifies before a House Appropriations Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump's budget request for the Department of Commerce, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 5, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap
WASHINGTON — U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that he could hear "expletives" out of South Korea after Japan reached a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration earlier this week.
Lutnick made the remarks, apparently suggesting that the tariff deal between the United States and Japan might have created a sense of urgency for South Korea, which seeks to reach a deal to avoid or lower the Trump administration's 25 percent "reciprocal" tariff set to kick in on Aug. 1.
"I could hear the expletives out of Korea when they read the Japanese deal because the Koreans and the Japanese ... they stare at each other," he said in a CNBC interview.
"So you can imagine what they were thinking when they saw that Japan made that deal ... They were like, 'Oh man!," he added, underscoring that Koreans "very much" want to make a deal.
On Tuesday, Trump announced the deal with Tokyo that would lower the threatened 25 percent reciprocal tariff for Japan to 15 percent in return for Japan's agreement to invest US$550 billion in the U.S., increase U.S. rice imports by 75 percent and buy 100 Boeing aircraft, to name a few.
During the interview, Lutnick said that he will engage in a meeting with South Korean negotiators in Washington on the day, after bilateral high-level trade talks, slated for Friday, were postponed.
Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo are currently in Washington amid Seoul's stepped-up efforts to strike a deal with the U.S.
"Of course, they are going to be in my office today talking," the secretary said.
Seoul and Washington had planned to hold "two-plus-two" trade talks on Friday, where Seoul's Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, Trade Minister Yeo, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were set to get together.
But the talks are now being rescheduled due to a "scheduling conflict," a Treasury spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency, noting that Bessent looks forward to meeting his South Korean counterparts "soon."