South Korea told the Trump Administration on Thursday that he wanted the upcoming trade negotiations to remain calm and not in the spiral chaos.
During the meetings in Washington, South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-Mok and Minister of Commerce Ahn Dukgeun met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Grer. They are pushing hard to the transaction by July 8th, the day's 90-day tariff stops.
After the meeting, Choi told journalists that discussions focus on four key areas: tariffs and non -tariff measures, economic security, investment cooperation and monetary policy.
He said that South Korea wanted mutual benefits, not a unilateral transaction, and warned of the impact when the tariffs fall. “South Korea is a reliable partner,” Choi said. The state wants it to be considered stable, useful and does not want to start fighting trade.
South Korea is asking for exceptions and plans as US shipbuilding
In the meantime, Ahn made his proposals at a meeting on the same Thursday, asking the US to work with Korea to restore the American shipbuilding industry, which both countries could become.
Ahn also demanded more balanced trade, Korea's tougher energy security and incoming exemptions tariffs. Reading the Ministry of Finance confirmed these details and said that both parties agreed to talk about where there were more meetings.
Currently, Korean Trump's tariffs are not completely safe. The country is still standing in the US with a 25% tax of steel and aluminum exports, plus a 25% tariff hanging over Korean car imports, which is a major problem for companies like Hyundai and Kia.
Both brands are located as the top eight car dealers in the US, based on Carpro data. According to the International Trade Administration, Korea is also the fourth largest exporter of Steel in the United States in 2024.
The Trump administration has not removed these specific tariffs. Instead, it simply did the damage until July 8, giving countries like Korea last shot to avoid more economic hits.
In the meantime, Anzi's Thursday report said that Korea could secure a transaction, but its internal policy could stretch the timetable.
“Although South Korea has good likely to negotiate a trade agreement with the US, its electoral calendar may extend the timetable schedule,” the note said.
Korea is heading for the election of a new president for June 3, after Yoon Suk Yeol received the Court of Justice on April 4 for the failed attempt of the Military Act.
The politics of the new President can move the following talks. It all depends on who wins and what they prefer for foreign trade and US relations. But Korea There is no luxury to collapse. The numbers don't look good at home.
The economy decreased by 0.1%in the first quarter of 2025, which happened for the first time since the end of 2020. Analysts assumed that the growth was 0.1%based on Reuters survey, but instead received contraction.
Korea Bank accused the decline in the construction sector, which collapsed 12.4% compared to the same period last year. In the quarter, the economy fell by 0.2%, rising from 0.1% at the end of 2024.
On April 17, Korean Bank left interest rates of 2.75%, but warned that the country's GDP growth by 2025 is likely to fall below the first 1.5% forecast set in February. The central bank said that consumers' demand is falling and exports are weakening due to long -term political uncertainty and bad trade conditions.
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