Bessent says US will negotiate with South Korea over trade next week, stresses ‘first mover advantage’
Washington: The United States will engage in trade negotiations with South Korea next week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, stressing the “first mover advantage,” as countries are striving to strike deals with the US to minimise the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy on their economies.
In a Bloomberg interview, Bessent touched on plans for upcoming negotiations with South Korea and Japan. Earlier this month, Trump imposed steep “reciprocal” tariffs on the two allies and dozens of other countries but later placed a 90-day pause on the new tariffs, Yonhap news agency reported.
“We had Vietnam in last week. We (have) Japanese in on Wednesday. … South Korea next week,” he said. “So it’s going to move fast.”
The secretary underscored there will be a “first mover” advantage as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament Monday (Tokyo time) that Japan will not make compromises for the sake of quickly wrapping up tariff talks with the US.
“I think there will be advantage to our allies, especially a first mover advantage,” he said. “Usually, the first person who makes a deal gets the best deal.”
Asked which country will be the first, Bessent said, “It’s their choice.”
Regarding a question over whether there are a handful of countries he expects to have a deal with before the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs is up, he said there could be “numerous” countries.
“It may not be the actual trade document, but we will have an agreement in principle and be able to move forward from there,” Bessent said.
His remarks added to media speculation that given time and logistical constraints, the Trump administration might try to negotiate ad hoc deals or written commitments on what it calls fair and reciprocal trade, which would fall short of full-fledged trade agreements.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Bessent is prioritizing South Korea, Britain, Australia, India and Japan as among his “top targets” for new trade deals.
Citing people familiar with the issue, the newspaper said that those countries are on his priority list and that he has been in contact with officials from those trading partners.