Washington: South Korea and the United States have agreed to pursue “expedient and meaningful” progress towards achieving “reciprocal and balanced” trade, as confirmed by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). This agreement was reached during a bilateral meeting held in Washington, where USTR’s Jamieson Greer and South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Ahn Duk-geun, met to discuss trade issues.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the meeting was described as “productive,” with both sides emphasizing the importance of advancing trade relations. The discussions focused on the United States’ priorities under the Trump administration’s America First Trade Policy, and the necessity of achieving balanced trade between the two nations. The meeting also outlined next steps, with teams being instructed to engage in technical discussions in the following week.
Additionally, Greer is scheduled to attend the ministerial Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on South Korea’s Jeju Island next month. The talks between Greer and Ahn were part of larger “two plus two” consultations, including Seoul’s Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. These discussions aimed at crafting a package agreement concerning U.S. tariffs and bilateral economic cooperation before a temporary pause on reciprocal tariffs ends on July 8.
The two sides agreed to focus future talks on four main categories: tariff- and non-tariff measures, economic security, investment cooperation, and currency policies. Working-level discussions on these topics are set to begin next week.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. plans to utilize a USTR-prepared framework, which outlines broad negotiation categories such as tariffs, quotas, digital trade, and rules of origin. This framework will guide negotiations with approximately 18 major U.S. trading partners over the next two months. The categories align closely with those agreed upon by Seoul and Washington during their recent high-level talks.