Korea's Deputy Minister for Trade Park Jong-won arrives at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. ,Feb. 17. Yonhap

Korea's Deputy Trade Minister Park Jong-won has filed a request with the U.S. government to leave Korea out of its new import tariff plans, highlighting the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) that has been in place for over a decade, the trade ministry said Friday.

Park made the request as he met with officials from the White House, the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during his trip to Washington this week, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Park stressed Korea's contribution to the U.S. economy, including massive investments by Korean companies and bilateral economic cooperation, as part of the reasons to exclude Seoul from a series of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as reciprocal tariffs, according to the ministry.

He also highlighted the fact that most of the tariffs on items traded between the two countries have been removed under the Korea-U.S. FTA.

Under the FTA, South Korea's average tariff rate on imports from the U.S. stood at 0.79 percent as of 2024, with the rate lowered when considering refunds, the finance ministry said earlier. The rate is set to drop further this year in accordance with the annual tariff reduction plan.

During his U.S. visit, Park also sought to arrange high-level talks in the near future to discuss ways to further promote economic cooperation between the two allies, the ministry said.

The ministry said the government will continue to closely communicate with the U.S. to discuss the latter's protectionist trade policies and work to minimize their damage on local industries. (Yonhap)