Trade negotiation cuts across industry, foreign affairs and finance ministries, so the presence of a single lead official largely sets the working pace. Channels with foreign counterparts are often personal, and a prolonged gap can force talks already under way to be re-explained from the beginning.

Two issues dominate. One is line-by-line tariff rates; the other is a structure in which tariff relief is traded against expanded production and investment inside the United States. The second is bound up with corporate investment decisions that no government can answer for alone.

Industry says predictability is the core problem. Without settled rates, exporters cannot fix pricing, logistics contracts or the scale of overseas expansion. The longer the lead time — semiconductors, autos, batteries — the heavier the cost of waiting.

Reports indicate the U.S. side has also yet to settle who leads its China negotiations. Thin working-level benches on both sides, paired with leader-level dates already fixed, tend to produce thinner agreements.

The government says working-level consultations continue on schedule. Negotiators note, however, that consultations without a participant holding decision authority can only take matters so far.

Hwagyo Sibo passes no judgement on personnel decisions. But tariffs are a direct cost line for Chinese-Korean trading firms and re-export businesses, and we will keep following where the talks go.