Seoul's trade delegation announced after the first round in Washington that the United States and South Korea had agreed to create a package of trade measures aimed at removing any new U.S. duties before the reciprocal tariff pause is lifted in the month of July.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary, said that the U.S.-South Korea meeting was "very successful".

He told reporters that "we may be moving faster than we thought and that we will be speaking technical terms as soon as next week."

Bessent and Trade Rep Jamieson Greer met South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sangmok and industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun.

No details were given on the possible areas of agreement. However, South Korea stated in a press release that it had requested exemptions from U.S. reciprocal tariffs and specific item-specific tariffs and offered to cooperate on shipbuilding, energy, as well as trade imbalances.

Ahn told reporters later: "I believe we had a good start today."

He said that the two countries had reached an agreement on the general framework of future discussions. "We agreed to have working-level discussions next week in order to establish the scope and structure for the talks with the aim of delivering a July package by the 8th of July."

Choi stated that Greer and Choi will continue to meet in South Korea between May 15-16.

Choi stated that the discussions will be focused on four main areas: tariffs, non-tariffs, economic security and investment cooperation.

AUTOS IN FOCUS

Bessent, along with other members of the Trump administration's trade team, met with foreign officials from the finance and trade sectors to try and strike deals with tariffs on the sidelines this week of the meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group.

South Korea, facing reciprocal U.S. tariffs of 25%, is one of the first countries that the Trump administration initiated trade negotiations with. This follows its first face to face discussions with Japan last week, another important Asian ally who was slapped by 24% in tariffs. Bessent also had a meeting with Japanese officials scheduled for Thursday.

Choi stated that South Korea focused on the automotive sector which is the most negatively affected.

Bessent also requested that the South Korean Finance Ministry and U.S. Treasury hold separate discussions about currency policy.

Choi said to South Korean journalists that the discussion did not include defense costs. Trump previously stated that the "one-stop-shopping" negotiations with Seoul would include a discussion of how to share the costs of maintaining U.S. forces in South Korea. South Korea's Foreign Minister said that defense costs are not part of trade negotiations.

Ahn stated that there had been no mention of renegotiating a bilateral trade agreement signed in 2007 and revised during Trump’s first term.

The South Koreans asked the Americans to understand that "political scheduling" could affect the process. This was in reference to the impending June 3 South Korean snap election, which was announced after the former president Yoon Suk Yeol had been ousted due his role in the implementation of martial law in December.

Han Duck-soo, the acting president of South Korea, has stated his willingness to negotiate a deal. He said that the country would not fight Washington because it owes them for their recovery from the Korean War between 1950 and 1953.

Han has been accused of rushing the talks to gain political advantage by the liberal opposition, who are expected to win the election.

Experts also note that it could be difficult for South Korea under an acting President to commit to energy projects or defence costs.

A source familiar with this matter told Reuters that Trump's energy council is planning to host a summit on Alaska in early summer, where it hopes Japanese officials and South Korean officials announce their commitments to the Alaska LNG Project. (Reporting and writing by Josh Smith and Joyce Lee in Seoul, and Nandita BOSE in Washington. Additional reporting and writing by Heekyong Jin, Yena Moon and Youn Ah Park, Cynthia Kim, and Jihoon Lee. Editing and proofreading by Tom Hogue and Sandra Maler.

(source: Reuters)