US, SOUTH KOREA AGREE TO PURSUE BALANCED TRADE - USTR

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- The United States (US) and South Korea have agreed to pursue “expedient and meaningful” progress toward “reciprocal and balanced” trade during a bilateral meeting in Washington on Thursday, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said.

In a statement, the USTR described the meeting between its representative Jamieson Greer and South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ahn Duk Geun, as “productive”, Yonhap news agency reported.

The meeting comes as Seoul continues efforts to secure exemptions from the Trump administration’s “reciprocal” and sectoral tariffs.

“During the productive meeting, Greer underscored the priorities of US President Trump’s America First Trade Policy, and both sides agreed on the importance of achieving expedient and meaningful progress toward reciprocal and balanced trade between the US and Korea,” the office said.

The ministers also discussed next steps and directed their respective teams to engage in technical discussions next week, it added.

The USTR further noted that Greer is scheduled to attend the ministerial Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting to be held on South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju next month.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP