SEOUL, April 16, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - South Korea's finance minister Choi Sang-mok will meet US counterpart Scott Bessent to discuss trade issues, Seoul said Wednesday, as the semiconductor and auto export powerhouse seeks to avoid steep new tariffs.

The country is a major exporter to the United States and chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and car producers Hyundai and subsidy Kia would suffer from President Donald Trump's threatened 25 percent levies.

Concerns about the chip sector specifically have hammered the Seoul-listed shares of Samsung, the world's largest memory chip maker, and largest memory chip supplier SK Hynix.

"The US Treasury Department has proposed holding a meeting on trade issues between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Deputy Prime Minister Choi during his visit to the United States next week," a finance ministry spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

"Specific participants and scheduling details are currently being coordinated," he added.

The finance minister said on Tuesday that his priority was to delay the tariffs "as much as possible" while South Korea prepares.

"The current priority is to use negotiations with the United States to delay the imposition of reciprocal tariffs as much as possible and to minimise uncertainty for Korean companies operating not only in the US but also in global markets," Choi said at a National Assembly plenary session.

Choi added that the "immediate focus" should be on "initiating ministerial-level talks (to) lay the groundwork for formal negotiations," for the next government.

South Korea has been effectively leaderless since ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by lawmakers in December and finally removed from office earlier this month.

Trump last week spoke to South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has been acting as president since Yoon was removed from office for attempting to subvert civilian rule.