Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Goo Yun-cheol will hold trade negotiations with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Messen on the morning of the 31st (local time) starting at 9:45 a.m. at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C. This will be 10:45 p.m. on the same day in Korea. This is effectively the final negotiation, one day before the Trump administration's deadline for mutual tariff imposition on August 1.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 30th, Deputy Prime Minister Goo held trade consultations with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick at the U.S. Department of Commerce starting at 3 p.m. on the 29th, shortly after arriving in the United States. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Goo and Secretary Lutnick were set to hold a 'Korea-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Meeting' in Washington, D.C., on the 25th, but it was postponed due to an emergency schedule for Secretary Lutnick.
The government is expected to propose common investment in the shipbuilding industry, expansion of energy imports, and increased investment in the United States during this negotiation. If consensus emerges from the negotiations between Deputy Prime Minister Goo and Secretary Lutnick, it could lead directly to a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The U.S. Department of the Treasury, where the negotiations will take place, is located right next to the White House.
Lee Jae-young, chairman of Samsung Electronics, Kim Dong-kwan, vice chairman of Hanwha Group, and Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, along with other business leaders, have headed to Washington, D.C., to support the tariff negotiations.
On that day, President Trump put pressure on the negotiations through social media, stating that he has no intention of extending the deadline for negotiations set for August 1. According to the Wall Street Journal, Secretary Lutnick told Korean government officials, 'Bring the best and final trade negotiation proposal regarding the tariff negotiations' and emphasized, 'You need to put everything into it.'