By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. is close to finalizing a trade deal with South Korea, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, telling reporters that he expected an announcement in the next 10 days.
"We are about to finish up with Korea," Bessent told CNBC. "The devil's in the details, but we are ironing out the details."
Bessent said U.S. and South Korean officials were meeting this week on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank in Washington.
Speaking to reporters later on Wednesday, Bessent said he believed disagreements with South Korea over promised investments could be resolved.
"I'm sure the differences can be resolved. We are in discussions now, and I would expect something in the next 10 days," Bessent said.
Asked if Treasury would support setting up a currency swap facility for South Korea, Bessent said that would be up to the Federal Reserve, but he was surprised it didn't already exist.
"If I were Federal Reserve chair, and I'm not, Korea would already have a currency swap facility, as would Singapore."
BOTH SIDES KEEN TO GET A DEAL
U.S. and South Korean officials are keen to finalize a trade agreement before the end of October, when Seoul will host an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend the APEC summit and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines.
Seoul's top policy adviser Kim Yong-beom on Wednesday said the two countries had made "meaningful progress" in negotiations over $350 billion of investments that Seoul had pledged to make in the U.S. in exchange for reduced U.S. trade tariffs. The promise was made in a preliminary trade deal announced in July.
In an interview with a YouTube channel, Kim said U.S. negotiators made a new proposal about how South Korea could implement the investment package, but gave no details.
President Lee Jae Myung told Reuters last month that South Korea's economy could plunge into crisis rivaling its 1997 meltdown if the government accepted current U.S. demands in the trade talks without safeguards.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)
