Following months of arduous tariff discussions, Seoul and Washington achieved a trade agreement earlier this week, prompting US President Donald Trump to declare that the US and South Korea had a “great” relationship.
In response to a reporter’s inquiry regarding his planned summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which he stated will occur at the White House in two weeks, Trump made the comments during a press availability.
Trump stated bluntly, “We have a great relationship with South Korea,” according to Yonhap news agency.
The trade agreement, which Trump announced on Wednesday, calls for his administration to reduce “reciprocal” duties on Korea from the proposed 25 percent to 15 percent in exchange for Korea’s pledges to invest and make other obligations.
In two weeks, his South Korean counterpart will pay a visit to the White House, he added. Later, Seoul’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that negotiations are in progress to organize and schedule a summit.
The South Korean administration, meanwhile, reiterated that wider opening of the nation’s rice market to American goods is not part of its trade agreement with the US. In a joint press release, the ministries of finance, industry, and agriculture stated that the rice issue was not covered by the Korea-U.S. trade agreement.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt made the news after reiterating U.S. President Donald Trump’s prior assertion regarding agricultural market access by stating that the trade agreement gives American goods, especially rice, market access.
The two nations reached an agreement Thursday whereby the United States reduced its reciprocal tariff rate for South Korea from the originally suggested 25 percent to 15 percent in exchange for Seoul’s commitment to invest US$350 billion in the largest economy in the world and buy $100 billion worth of U.S. liquefied natural gas and other energy products over the following four years.
In response to Korea’s import prohibition on American beef products from livestock 30 months or older, the U.S. government reportedly put pressure on Seoul to further expand its rice and beef markets.
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