Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, along with Ahn Deok-geun, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, participated in the ‘Korea-U.S. 2+2 Trade Consultation’ held in Washington D.C. on the 24th (local time) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. They posed for a commemorative photo with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Vessant and USTR representative Jamieson Greer. (Photo provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance) 2025.04.24. Newsis
On the 24th, the Korea-U.S. ‘2+2 Ministerial Trade Consultation’ held in Washington D.C. concluded. It appears that discussions were held to resolve tariff issues, including eliminating the 25% reciprocal tariffs, which the U.S. government had announced it would impose on Korea.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi and Minister Ahn began the trade consultation at around 8 a.m. at the U.S. Treasury Department with Treasury Secretary Scott Vessant and USTR representative Jamieson Greer. The consultation lasted approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes.
During the talks, it seems that the two countries discussed the tariffs imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. After the trade consultation, Minister Ahn continued individual consultations with USTR representative Greer.
President Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum products starting from the 12th of last month. He also began imposing a 25% tariff on automobiles from the 3rd of this month and has been levying a base tariff of 10% on most Korean imports since the 5th.
Initially, President Trump announced on the 9th that a 25% reciprocal tariff would be imposed on Korea, but he decided to defer the imposition for 90 days for countries other than China.
The Korean government aims to minimize the tariff burden on items like automobiles, steel, and semiconductors imposed by the Trump administration during the negotiations. Additionally, broad discussions are expected to have taken place regarding ‘non-tariff barriers’ pointed out by the U.S. in sectors such as agriculture, livestock, biotechnology, and digital fields.
Minister Ahn, who visited the U.S. on the said day, met reporters immediately upon arrival at Dulles International Airport near Washington D.C. and stated, “The goal is to eliminate the reciprocal tariffs imposed, and for automobiles, in particular, we plan to resolve this issue as swiftly as possible through consultations.”
Meanwhile, it is still unknown whether President Trump will directly attend. President Trump previously surprised everyone by announcing he would meet with Akazawa Ryosei, Japan’s Minister for Economic Revitalization, who visited the U.S. for tariff negotiations on the 16th of this month, and demanded improvements in the cost-sharing of U.S. military bases in Japan.