South Korea and the United States began high-level trade consultations in Jeju regarding issues such as reciprocal tariffs. This comes about three weeks after the '2+2' talks in Washington on the 24th of last month, with the visit of U.S. Trade Representative Jamie Grier serving as a catalyst for relay meetings.
Deputy Minister Jeong In-kyoo of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy met with Representative Grier, who was in Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Trade Ministers' meeting on the afternoon of the 15th, and discussed bilateral trade issues, the Ministry announced.
Deputy Minister Jeong and Representative Grier exchanged views on the negotiation trends regarding U.S. tariff measures with major countries and other trade issues between the two nations. The two expressed a consensus on cooperating to achieve advanced outcomes as South Korea chairs APEC this year.
South Korea and the United States are conducting consecutive high-level negotiations from the 14th to the 16th, coinciding with the Jeju meeting. On the 16th, Representative Grier and Minister Ahn Duk-geun will hold a high-level bilateral meeting.
Korean and U.S. trade authorities have been narrowing down the agenda across various areas such as tariffs, non-tariffs, economic security, investment cooperation, and currency policy while conducting practical consultations since the '2+2' talks last month. The Korean side is proposing industrial cooperation plans, including shipbuilding, while advocating for exemptions from the reciprocal tariff that the U.S. has warned will impose a 25% levy on Korean products.
On the 16th, Representative Grier is scheduled to have a closed-door meeting in Jeju with representatives from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean to discuss South Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation plans, including the construction of military and commercial ships as well as maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). It is reported that the U.S. side separately requested meetings with the two companies prior to Representative Grier's visit.
On this day, a bilateral meeting between South Korea and China was also held. Deputy Minister Jeong met in the morning with Li Chenggang, the international trade representative and deputy minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China, who visited Jeju to attend the APEC meeting, and discussed trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, including negotiations on the South Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) services and investment.