Trade Minister to Meet with USTR Representative Next Week... Expected to Focus on Reciprocal Tariff Discussions

Minister In-kyo Jeong to Meet with USTR Representative Jamieson Greer Next Week

Expected to Dispel Misunderstanding that "Korea's Tariffs are 4 Times Higher" and Request Mutual Tariff Exemptions

As U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned Korea as an unfair trading partner in his first congressional address of his second term, high-level trade officials will visit the United States to explore cooperation measures.

According to the government on the 6th, Trade Minister In-kyo Jeong of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is coordinating a schedule to visit Washington D.C. as early as next week to meet with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and other high-ranking trade officials.

This comes just a week after Industry Minister Duk-geun Ahn, the head of trade, met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick from the 26th to 28th of last month (local time) to discuss industrial cooperation measures. Minister Ahn explained at a press briefing on the 4th that Korea and the U.S. have established consultative bodies between authorities in four areas: shipbuilding, energy, Alaska gas field development, and non-tariff barriers.

During this U.S. visit, Minister Jeong plans to meet with USTR Representative Greer to convey Korea's position on tariffs against the U.S. In particular, regarding President Trump's statement yesterday that "Korea's tariff rate is 4 times higher than the U.S.," he is expected to correct this misunderstanding by explaining that tariffs between the two countries are virtually close to 0% due to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

In addition, regarding the reciprocal tariffs announced by the U.S., he is expected to request that Korea's position be reflected as much as possible in the trade report to be submitted to President Trump. Previously, Trump announced that the Commerce Department and USTR would review a comprehensive trade policy review report by the 1st of next month, and tariff measures would begin from the 2nd.

Prior to his U.S. visit, Minister Jeong is scheduled to attend the Korea-European Union (EU) Trade Ministers' Meeting in Brussels, Belgium this weekend, and then move to Mexico early next week. It is reported that he plans to listen to the difficulties of Korean companies operating in Mexico and meet with local government officials.

Reporter Ha Ji-eun hazzys@hankyung.com