S.Korea in push for US trade deal to offer package including shipbuilding tie-up

29/7/2025 11:46

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Tuesday he would seek a mutually beneficial trade deal when he meets U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for talks this week, just days before an August 1 deadline expires to avoid punishing tariffs.



Speaking at the airport before departing for Washington, Koo said he would propose at Thursday's meeting a "programme" South Korea had prepared and consult on areas where they could cooperate in the mid-to-long term, such as shipbuilding.



South Korea's Hanwha Group, parent of shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, had submitted a major investment plan to government officials, according to two people familiar with the matter.



The plan included expanding its recently acquired Philly Shipyard in the state of Pennsylvania and involved Hanwha Group and some of its affiliates, said the sources.



Hanwha Group's Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan also flew to Washington to support trade negotiations, local media reported.



Seoul officials are scrambling in an all-out push to clinch a trade deal ahead of the August 1 deadline to remove or reduce tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump against the country's key industrial exports to the United States.