The United States Trade Representative (USTR) assessed that South Korea is actively engaging in trade negotiations with the United States and is moving in the direction desired by the U.S.
Jamie Grier, the USTR representative, said in an interview with Fox News on the 30th (local time) that South Korea has been very forward-leaning regarding the negotiations. He noted, 'South Korea has put proposals forward, and we have provided feedback,' adding that 'it will take some time with South Korea, but they are heading in the right direction.'
Regarding negotiation priorities, he responded, 'We are conducting many negotiations in parallel. The more ambitious a country is, the more ambitious we can be. We are working very closely with the United Kingdom. We are also collaborating with South Korea. We are open to anyone ready to move forward and are progressing as quickly as possible.'
According to previous reports by The Guardian, the U.S. categorized its negotiation targets into three groups based on priority, with the United Kingdom placed in the second or third group. The Guardian reported that the U.S. explained to the British side that negotiations with Asian countries are the top priority, with South Korea at the top of the list.
Representative Grier mentioned that there are negotiations close to conclusion, forecasting that some initial agreements would be announced 'within weeks, not months.'
He also named Vietnam as a country actively engaged in negotiations. He introduced that the U.S. would negotiate with Japan, Guyana, and Saudi Arabia on the 1st, and with the Philippines on the 2nd. When asked if a trade agreement with India is at the 'finish line,' he replied, 'I wouldn’t say it’s at the finish line, but we are close.'
When asked if tariffs could be lowered below 10% or eliminated altogether, Grier replied, 'The President believes that having global tariffs is important since we are responding to an emergency situation.' He added, 'In human history, no country has ever had such a significant trade deficit. Therefore, we probably want to maintain higher tariffs at a certain level until that is resolved.'