US-South Korea trade deal will not be finalized during Trump’s visit.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on Monday that negotiations on a trade deal with South Korea are not expected to be finalized during Donald Trump’s visit.
Trump also expressed his opposition to the deportation of Korean workers after US immigration forces raided a battery manufacturing plant in Georgia, an incident that has caused tensions in relations between the two countries.
He added that the United States is developing a plan to issue special work visas for skilled South Korean workers to prevent such crises from recurring.
According to IRNA, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said earlier that his country had reached a preliminary security agreement with the US in addition to trade talks.
Hyun said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency published on Thursday that one of South Korea’s demands in the trade talks is to review the currency swap and that the US is conducting this assessment, but Seoul is not optimistic about the outcome.
Washington has agreed to reduce tariffs on South Korean goods in exchange for Seoul investing in the United States, but talks on the matter have stalled for now.
South Korea has also held talks on security issues in an effort to further reduce US tariffs.
US President Donald Trump has said Seoul should pay more in exchange for US military protection.