"If the United States continues offering security guarantees and open markets, then our allies must step up with stronger commitments to shared defense," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a forum hosted by the Institute of International Finance later in the day.
Bessent, together with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, is set to meet with South Korea's visiting Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun for "2+2" talks on Thursday to discuss tariffs and other trade-related issues.
Their meeting was arranged at the requested by the U.S. earlier this week after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans earlier this month to impose 25-percent reciprocal tariffs on imports from South Korea with a 90-day grace period for negotiations, in line with similar actions against other trading partners.
Explaining Trump's sweeping tariff policy, Bessent said, "Trade is not the only factor in broader global economic imbalances. The persistent over-reliance on the United States for demand is resulting in an ever more unbalanced global economy," and added that more than 100 countries have approached the U.S. to "help rebalance global trade."
But his remark could also suggest that the U.S. may want to leverage tariff discussions to address a broader range of issues including the already finalized defense cost-sharing agreement between Seoul and Washington, as part of Trump's "one-stop shopping" approach.
But Ahn said that defense cost-sharing is not on the agenda for the talks, and expressed his commitment to seeking trade solutions that would benefit both countries.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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