SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun will travel to Washington D.C. from Wednesday through to Friday to press again for an exemption from U.S. steel tariffs and discuss ways to boost cooperation in energy and shipbuilding, his ministry said.
The trip comes less than a week after Deputy Trade Minister Park Jong-won led the first major South Korean government delegation to visit Washington since President Donald Trump’s return to power and called on the U.S. administration to exempt Seoul from steel and aluminium tariffs.
Ahn will meet officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce and also discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in shipbuilding and energy, while also meeting “key figures” in the U.S. Congress, a statement from his ministry said, without elaborating.
The risks from a global trade war have become dangerously real for a trade-reliant economy like South Korea after Trump announced 25% levies on steel and aluminium imports and also reciprocal tariffs on trading partners from April.
In January, South Korea’s exports declined for the first time after an impressive 16-month growth streak and at the sharpest pace in a year due to U.S. tariff uncertainty and unfavourable base effects.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)
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