Minister Kim Jeong-gwan Meets U.S. Secretary of Commerce Luttig: What Was Discussed?

[Financial News]  
Minister Kim Jeong-gwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Director Ye Han-gu of the Trade Negotiation Headquarters met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Luttig at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on the 24th at 11:30 a.m. (local time) to discuss ways to conclude tariff negotiations, including strengthening cooperation in the manufacturing sector between the two countries.
Minister Kim introduced ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in strategic manufacturing sectors such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, and batteries, and strongly requested the need for tariff and reciprocal tariff reductions on items such as automobiles.
Minister Kim emphasized, "We will do our utmost to ensure that our companies are not disadvantaged compared to competing countries," and "Based on the results of this discussion, we will exert all our efforts to achieve the best results from a national interest perspective by August 1." 
Minister Kim and Secretary Luttig reaffirmed their commitment to deriving a mutually beneficial resolution before August 1 and agreed to continue additional negotiations in the near future.
Additionally, Minister Kim met with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on the 23rd at 2:30 p.m. to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in clean energy and energy security between the two countries. At this meeting, he invited Secretary Wright to attend the Energy Super Week to be held in Busan at the end of August. Director Ye also met with Alabama Governor Kay Ivey via video conference on the 23rd, emphasizing the contribution of our companies to U.S. investment and conducting outreach activities. 
In the future, Minister Kim plans to hold individual meetings with National Energy Commission Chairman Doug Burgum, and Director Ye plans to meet with USTR Representative Greer and Texas Governor Greg Abbott to further discuss progress in tariff negotiations and cooperation in the energy sector.



aber@fnnews.com Ji-young Park, Reporter