THE government is resuming tariff talks with Washington on the sidelines of a key Apec meeting, an official said, as ministers jostle to meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Trade ministers from the top economies that make up Apec are meeting on South Korea’s Jeju Island amid concerns over the global trading system after US President Donald Trump unveiled bombshell levies on most partners last month.
AFP reporters saw ministers scurrying to meet Greer, who has been holding a series of bilateral negotiations.
Among them was Chinese international trade representative Li Chenggang, just days after the two met in Geneva and agreed to slash tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days.
Greer was also scheduled to meet South Korean Minister of Trade and Industry Ahn Duk-geun yesterday, a South Korean government official said, with Seoul hoping for significant progress in talks to avoid Trump’s steep tariffs.
The two met in late April in Washington, where South Korea proposed a “July Package” aimed at removing tariffs.
South Korea recorded a US$66bil trade surplus with the United States last year, behind only Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan, making it a key target of Trump’s trade bazooka.
Highly dependent on exports, the country has been hit hard by the 25% tariffs on automobiles imposed by Trump in early April.
The auto industry accounts for 27% of South Korea’s exports to the United States, which takes in nearly half of the country’s car exports.
Trump announced additional “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 25% on South Korean exports last month, but later suspended them until early July.
Seoul aims to leverage the talks with commitments to purchase more US liquefied natural gas (LNG) and offer support in shipbuilding, a sector in which South Korea is a leader, after China.
Earlier yesterday, Greer met Chung Ki-sun, the vice-chairman of HD Hyundai, which owns South Korea’s largest shipbuilding company.
HD Hyundai said in a statement the gathering marked the first time a US trade representative had met a representative of South Korea’s shipbuilding industry, adding that discussions covered cooperation with US shipmaker Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Greer is also set to meet the CEO of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, which provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for US Navy vessels. — AFP
