Korea's top policymakers to visit US next week amid push for tariff relief

Korea’s top economic policymakers are set to visit the United States next week in a coordinated diplomatic push to ease US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Korean exports.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance confirmed on Thursday that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will travel to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with his US counterpart, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

While the exact schedule and attendees are still being finalized, the meeting is expected to focus on pressing trade issues between the two allies.

“The US Department of the Treasury proposed a meeting with Secretary Bessent on major trade-related issues in conjunction with Deputy Prime Minister Choi’s visit next week,” the ministry told reporters.

Choi’s trip to Washington will coincide with the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, scheduled for April 23–24, which will take place on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The high-stakes trip underscores Seoul’s efforts to protect key industries and maintain economic stability amid growing global protectionism.

In a parallel effort, Korea’s Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun is also coordinating plans to visit Washington as early as next week to meet with senior US officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

The talks will focus on negotiating potential revisions or exemptions from the newly announced US duties on Korean goods.

On April 10, the Trump administration announced a 90-day pause on country-specific "reciprocal tariffs" to bring some 70 countries, including key US partners such as Korea, Japan, the UK, Australia and India, to the negotiation table while keeping a separate 10 percent universal tariff in place.

For the three-month period, the reciprocal tariff rate on Korean goods exported to the US was lowered from an initial 25 percent to 10 percent.

Product-specific tariffs will remain, such as the 25 percent duties on steel and automobiles.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, Bessent outlined the administration’s strategy of sequential negotiations with Asian partners. “We had Vietnam in last week. We’ve got the Japanese in on Wednesday. … South Korea next week,” he said. Bessent also said that early participants in the negotiation process would likely secure more favorable terms, describing it as a “first mover advantage.”

In a phone call on April 8 between Trump and Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the US administration floated the idea of a broader "package deal" approach, proposing discussion on multiple issues in tandem.

These include tariffs, a reduction of Korea’s trade surplus with the US, cooperation in the shipbuilding sector, Korean purchases of US liquefied natural gas, a joint investment in the Alaska pipeline, and an increase in Korea’s contribution to the cost of stationing US troops here.

However, the Korean government made it clear that it does not intend to pursue a package deal that links trade negotiations with defense cost-sharing.

“In my conversation with President Trump, we agreed to strengthen cooperation in three key areas — shipbuilding, trade balance and energy — to reinforce the strong Korea-US alliance,” Han said during a visit to Kia Motors' Gwangju plant on Tuesday.

“Based on this cooperation, we are working to ease the burden on industries most affected by the steep US tariffs, particularly the automotive, components, steel and aluminum sectors.”