South Korea to prepare mutually agreeable trade package as US tariff deadline looms

South Korea to step up US trade talks before tariffs kick in on August 1

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea will prepare a trade package that is mutually agreeable with the United States ahead of minister-level meetings planned next week and a U.S. tariff-pause deadline of August 1, the presidential office said on Saturday.

The package will include shipbuilding cooperation, a sector of high interest to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who discussed the matter with South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan on Friday, it said in a statement.

South Korea’s Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will also hold meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and State Secretary Marco Rubio, respectively, next week.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)