South Korea will seek to delay the implementation of tariffs as long as possible in negotiations with the United States, its finance minister said on Tuesday, as Seoul targets cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as shipbuilding and energy.
Officials in Seoul have been scrambling to limit the damage to the export-reliant economy from the threat of looming duties.
South Korea is among the countries that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Washington would sit down with to discuss the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The priority was to delay the tariffs “as much as possible” to help reduce the uncertainty the country’s businesses face in the global market, South Korea’s Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok told parliament.
“From our national interest perspective, the idea is to negotiate as much as possible and wrap it up under the new government,” he said in answer to a lawmaker’s question about the direction of Seoul’s response.
Trump hit Asia’s fourth-largest economy with 25% “reciprocal” tariffs earlier this month as he targeted dozens of countries with import duties as high as 49%. He has since paused their implementation by 90 days but has maintained a 10% blanket tariff on all goods imports and ratcheted up levies on China.
The tariff shock comes as South Korea prepares to pick a new president in a snap election on June 3 after Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted this month over his short-lived martial law declaration.
While the power vacuum has raised questions about the mandate of acting President Han Duck-soo and the direction of its response to Trump’s sweeping tariffs, Han’s government has engaged with top US administration officials.
Han spoke to Trump last week in a phone call, while South Korea’s top trade envoy met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to discuss lowering tariffs.
Trade and Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun may travel to Washington next week for further talks, media reports said.
Choi said discussions between Trump and Han touched on the spirit of reaching a solution that meets the allies’ mutual interests and includes cooperation in the shipbuilding sector and potential involvement in an Alaska gas pipeline project.
Seoul has previously indicated it was open to possible involvement in the gas project and that potential cooperation with Washington in the shipbuilding sector was a “very important card” in negotiations.
Trump’s delay to some tariffs means the work of negotiating a trade arrangement to address the US president’s claim of unfair trade will fall on a new South Korean president, who will take office immediately after the June 3 vote.
The tariff pause does not apply to the 25% duty that Trump imposed on steel and aluminium as well as vehicles.
South Korea is a leading global exporter of cars and steel to the United States.
Seoul announced on Tuesday an increase in its support package for its key semiconductor industry to 33 trillion won ($23.25 billion), amid growing policy uncertainty over US policies.
Trump said on Sunday he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week, adding that there would be flexibility with some companies in the sector.
