WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's administration continues to have "productive" negotiations with South Korea to reduce "unfair" trade barriers and enhance market access for US businesses, a White House official said Friday.
South Korea has been making concerted efforts to reach a trade deal with Washington to reduce the threatened 25 percent "reciprocal" tariffs and sector-specific tariffs on steel and automobiles before Aug. 1, when the reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect.
"We continue to have productive negotiations with South Korea to reduce unfair trade barriers and improve market access for American firms," the official told Yonhap News Agency via email.
The official's characterization of the negotiations as "productive" raised cautious hope for headway in the trade talks, as Seoul has made proposals for bilateral cooperation in key strategic industry sectors, including shipbuilding, semiconductors and batteries.
On Thursday, South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met jointly with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington as part of their efforts to reach a trade deal with the Trump administration.
Seoul's Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Yeo had planned to have a "two-plus-two" meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in the US capital on Friday, but the meeting was postponed due to a scheduling conflict on Bessent's part.
Earlier in the day, Trump said that his administration will have most of its trade deals with countries finished by Aug. 1.
The president also said his administration might send close to 200 countries a letter on their tariff rate, which he said means, "They have a deal. It's done." (Yonhap)
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