New developments in the Sino-US trade war: Seoul seeks to extend negotiation window, White House closely monitors non-tariff barriers.

According to media reports from South Korea on June 30th, senior trade officials from the South Korean government revealed that South Korea is actively seeking to extend the 90-day tariff suspension period that was originally set to expire on July 9th by the United States. Given that the negotiations may not be completed within the established deadline, Seoul hopes to obtain additional consultation time from the Trump administration. According to South Korean officials at a briefing that day, South Korea and the United States had just concluded their first high-level trade dialogue since the administration of President Moon Jae-in took office. This was the third round of technical-level negotiations that have taken place between the two sides since they reached the consensus to "develop a tariff exemption plan by July 9th" at the end of April. The official admitted: "Based on the current progress, some countries may reach agreements before July 8th, while others may need to extend the negotiations. Some countries may choose to continue negotiations under the existing tariff framework." He emphasized that South Korea will strive to extend the deadline and expects the United States to make a final decision on the matter during the week of July 8th. Regarding the focus of the negotiations, the official revealed that the United States mainly discussed non-tariff barriers in South Korea during last week's talks. Under the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, South Korea has implemented almost zero tariffs on imports from the United States, so the US is now focusing on technical trade barriers, regulatory standards, and other non-tariff areas. It is noteworthy that issues related to exchange rate policy and sharing of defense costs for US troops stationed in South Korea are being negotiated through other specialized channels. Currently, approximately 28,500 US troops are stationed on the Korean Peninsula, and this number is closely related to the background of the US putting pressure during the Trump administration to increase the sharing of defense costs. Analysts generally point out that the request for an extension of the tariff negotiations reflects a deeper strategic game between South Korea and the United States on trade issues. On one hand, South Korea's key industries such as automotive and steel urgently need tariff exemptions for exports to the US; on the other hand, the US is attempting to reshape the Asia-Pacific trade landscape through new rules such as technical trade barriers. What started as tariff negotiations in April has evolved into a multidimensional game involving trade rules, geopolitical strategies, and defense cooperation.