Overview

• Yeo Han-koo, who took office as trade minister on June 10, will depart Sunday for Washington to lead the tariff talks.
• Seoul and Washington have agreed to finalize a comprehensive package by July 8 covering tariffs, non-tariff measures, economic security, investment cooperation and currency policies.
• The U.S. has raised concerns over South Korea’s trade surplus and non-tariff barriers such as its ban on older beef imports, vehicle emissions rules and restrictions on high-precision map data transfers.
• In May, both governments structured the negotiations around four key categories to steer discussions toward a mutually beneficial outcome.
• Yeo has pledged to craft measures that ensure a “win-win” agreement for both countries as negotiations intensify next week.