Seoul's trade delegation announced that the United States and South Korea had agreed to develop a package of agreements aimed at removing any new U.S. duties before the reciprocal tariff pause is lifted in 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 we will start talking technical terms 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 tariffs. It also offered to cooperate on shipbuilding, energy, and addressing trade deficits.

Ahn told reporters later that the two countries had reached an agreement on a framework for future talks. We also agreed to have working-level discussions next week to determine scope and structure of the talks with a goal to produce a "July package" by July 8.

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.

He said that the U.S. Treasury and South Korea's Finance ministry will have 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 claimed that the renegotiations for a free trade agreement signed in 2017 had not been mentioned.

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 be able to fight Washington because it owes them for their recovery after the 1950-1953 Korean War.

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 with knowledge of the matter confirmed on Thursday that Trump's energy council is planning to host a summit to be held in Alaska early in June. The goal is to have Japanese and South Korean officials announce their commitment to the Alaska LNG Project. (Reporting and writing by Josh Smith and Hyunjoo Ji in Seoul, and Nandita BOSE in Washington. Additional reporting and writing by Cynthia Kim, Heekyong Ya, Yena park and Youn Ah moon; Editing and proofreading by Tom Hogue and Sandra Maler in Seoul.

(source: Reuters)