Seoul [South Korea], August 17 : South Korea and the United States must address unresolved matters concerning a USD 200 billion investment initiative established during their bilateral tariff discussions, South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan stated.
Kim Jung-kwan shared these remarks upon landing in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday (local time) as Seoul navigates ongoing tariff demands from Washington alongside several pending bilateral trade disputes, Yonhap news agency reported.
Under a trade agreement reached last year, South Korea committed to investing USD 350 billion in the US, a move that reduced the US tariff on South Korean goods from 25 per cent to 15 per cent.
From the total USD 350 billion, USD 150 billion was designated for joint efforts in the shipbuilding industry, while both nations continue to negotiate the specifics for executing the remaining USD 200 billion investment.
"We had previously said we were considering announcing the projects around the end of August or early September, but as we approach the final stage, various specific issues are emerging at the working level," Kim informed reporters, according to Yonhap news agency.
When questioned about the possibility of unveiling the investment projects by late August, Kim indicated that negotiators were finalising the details with that timeline as their primary objective.
"Various issues are emerging, more than we had anticipated," Kim said, as quoted by Yonhap. "Please understand that I came here with the goal of resolving them somehow so that we can meet the end-of-August target."
The minister's visit occurred just two days after the dismissal of Yeo Han-koo, South Korea's chief trade negotiator, amid escalating trade pressure on Seoul from the US administration.
Previously, the ministry noted that the US government is anticipated to declare the findings of its probe into suspected overproduction under Section 301 of the Trade Act by the close of this month.
During the previous month, Washington declared an additional tier of tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners, varying between 10 per cent and 12.5 per cent, stemming from a forced labour investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Under this updated framework, South Korea faces a 12.5 per cent tariff, alongside Japan and Switzerland.
Apart from the forced labour inquiry, the US administration is concurrently scrutinising 16 economies, including South Korea, concerning alleged excess industrial capacity under the identical trade legislation.