S. Korea, U.S. seek to reach deal on removing tariffs, before tariff pause ends in July

Finance and trade officials from South Korea and the United States met in Washington for talks, as Seoul seeks a path to be exempted from tariffs, before the pause on tariffs ends in July.

Bae Eun-ji has the key takeaways from the meeting.

South Korea and the United States have agreed to produce a package of deals to remove new U.S. tariffs before the July 8 deadline, when the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs is lifted.

This was discussed by South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok and trade minister Ahn Duk-geun, alongside U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during a high-level meeting in Washington on Thursday local time.

Seoul's trade ministry said in a statement that it requested exemptions from reciprocal tariffs and offered cooperation on shipbuilding and energy.

Following the meeting, finance minister Choi said the two sides agreed to aim for a deal by early July and explained they will hold further discussions on four key areas of mutual interest: tariffs and non-tariff measures, economic security, investment cooperation, and currency policy.

"We focused particularly on the automobile sector, which faces the greatest negative impact."

Choi also said they asked for understanding from the U.S., as the negotiation process could be affected by Korea's political schedule and the upcoming presidential election.

He added that the two sides agreed to discuss this in detail when Greer visits South Korea to take part in the APEC trade ministers' meeting, scheduled to take place for two days starting May 15th.

Meanwhile,.. Bessent also told reporters that the two countries had a "very successful" meeting without disclosing further details on the talks.

"We may be moving faster than I thought, and we will be talking technical terms as early as next week, as we reach an agreement on understanding as soon as next weekend. So South Koreans came early, they came with their A-game, and we will see if they follow through on that."

South Korea, which faces 25% U.S. reciprocal tariffs is among the first countries the Trump administration has initiated trade talks with.

Eyes are now on whether the two countries will be able to reach a fruitful deal that will exempt South Korea from higher levies.

Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.