Korea, US agree on achieving 'expedient, meaningful' progress toward reciprocal trade: USTR

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun meets with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer before their talks in Washington, Thursday. Yonhap

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 release, 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, Greer underscored the priorities of President Donald 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 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 tariffs and other related issues.

The Treasury Department underscored Bessent's positive assessment of Thursday's talks with South Korea.

"Secretary Bessent welcomed South Korea's fast and positive engagement with the United States following President Trump's call with Acting President Han on April 8," the department said in a separate release.

"Secretary Bessent was encouraged by their discussions' focus on an expanded equilibrium which encourages rather than restricts trade."

Bessent also thanked Choi and Ahn for their efforts to balance the bilateral relationship by reducing trade barriers and increasing South Korean investment in the United States, the department said.

In addition, it pointed out that Bessent and Choi reaffirmed the "strong" bilateral relationship between the two countries and agreed to further productive discussions, including on currency policy.

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 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 nontariff 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; nontariff 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 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 U.S. 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.