South Korea to launch consultative bodies with US for tariff negotiations

South Korea and the United States have agreed to launch working-level consultative bodies on promoting bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding and energy industries, as well as for discussions on Washington's new tariff scheme, Seoul's industry minister Ahn Duk-geun said Tuesday, Report informs via Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea is the first country to form working-level consultative bodies with the new US administration on tariff negotiations and bilateral cooperation, Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said in a press briefing on his recent visit to Washington, noting the channels will begin operation as soon as possible.

The two sides plan to establish four different channels to discuss shipbuilding collaboration, energy cooperation, which includes South Korea's possible participation in the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, tariffs and non-tariff barriers.

The agreement was made during Ahn's three-day trip to Washington last week, where he met with his US counterpart, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, as well as US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and US Secretary of Interior and National Energy Dominance Council Chairman Doug Burgum among others to discuss the Donald Trump administration's new tariff scheme.

Ahn's trip came amid mounting concerns over the US government's plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, as well as to introduce reciprocal tariffs on trade partners while reviewing new tariffs on cars, chips and pharmaceuticals.

"Opening a negotiation channel with the US was the priority of the trip as we are not playing a single-round match with the US but rather a marathon," Ahn said.

The minister further stated that he focused on emphasizing the fact that the South Korean economy has increasingly decoupled from China in recent years while sharply deepening industrial ties with the US that included massive corporate investments in America.

"We told officials that South Korean companies' investments have only started, and there are many more to come, and for them to be carried out as planned, consistency in US policies is needed," he said.

Ahn said he also conveyed South Korea's interest in participating in the gas pipeline development project in Alaska, one of the Trump administration's key agendas, as part of efforts to increase energy imports from the US and thus reduce its trade surplus.

Washington's trade officials also welcomed Ahn's proposal that Korean shipbuilders can manufacture warships, tankers and icebreakers for the US on a preferential basis as part of measures to bolster bilateral cooperation in the shipbuilding industry, he added.