Trump optimistic after call about tariffs with South Korea

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South Korea's trade minister travels to US for talks

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South Korea, Japan are key US allies, but face tariffs

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White House prioritizing allies in tariff talks, adviser says

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Shipbuilding, energy deals potential areas of focus

(Adds White House press secretary paragraphs 16 & 17)

By Susan Heavey, Jihoon Lee and Ju-min Park

WASHINGTON/SEOUL, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he discussed tariffs, shipbuilding and potential energy deals in a "great call" with South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo on Tuesday, a day before a 25% tariff on the Asian ally is scheduled to kick in.

"We have the confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries. Their top TEAM is on a plane heading to the U.S., and things are looking good," Trump said on social media.

South Korea's trade minister is traveling to Washington to meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for tariff negotiations.

Han said in the call with Trump that he hoped to strengthen and expand the U.S.-South Korea alliance and that he was willing to cooperate to achieve a balance in trade as well as on shipbuilding and liquefied natural gas, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

Details of the call came as White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said U.S. negotiators are prioritizing allies as they move forward on trade, focusing on large trading partners that have long had big trade surpluses with the United States.

"The president will decide when and if to talk with China, but right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others," he told Fox News.

South Korea and Japan are longstanding security allies of the United States, hosting large numbers of U.S. troops, and are key partners in U.S. efforts to push back against China's growing power in Asia and beyond. They also have large trade surpluses with Washington, but have not escaped Trump's global tariff program.

Trump said on Monday that Japan is sending a team to negotiate on trade and that he spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who separately said he told Trump to rethink tariff policies.

Greer told Congress on Tuesday that exemptions to Trump's global tariffs are not expected in the near term.

With nearly 70 countries approaching the administration for talks, discussions could stretch into June, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Network's Larry Kudlow on Monday.

ALASKA ENERGY PROJECT

Trump will be personally involved in the negotiations, Bessent told CNBC's Squawk Box on Tuesday, citing as an example a potential energy deal in Alaska.

Trump wants Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to join a $44-billion project that envisages transporting natural gas from Alaska's remote north to East Asia from 2030.

Trump said last month Japan and South Korea wanted to join the project, although Japanese energy companies have said they remain unconvinced about its viability.

"We will see ... what our trading partners offer," Bessent said. "There is talk of a big energy deal in Alaska where the Japanese and perhaps the Koreans, perhaps the Taiwanese ... would take a lot of the off-take and provide financing for the deal."

"That could be an alternative for them to come forward with that, because not only would that provide a lot of American jobs, but it would narrow the trade deficit. Everything's on the table."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a regular news briefing U.S. military presence and foreign aid could be part of trade talks, bringing to mind repeated calls by Trump for Japan and South Korea to pay more to cover the cost of stationing U.S. troops there.

"The president ... is going to have a custom, tailor-made approach to each and every country, and if that means discussions of foreign aid, of our military presence in these countries, how those troops are paid for ... that could be part of the negotiation," she said.

Han told CNN in an interview he would "clearly like to negotiate" over reducing tariffs and that Seoul would not band together with China, Japan or other countries to retaliate.

Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo said before heading to Washington on Tuesday Seoul has been considering measures to increase imports from the United States and that it was good news Trump had said the door was open for talks on tariffs.

"It is difficult to reduce exports, so shouldn't we then increase (U.S.) imports? In that regard, we have been reviewing many different packages of measures to resolve the trade balance problem," Cheong said, noting internal discussions about increasing U.S. LNG imports.

Cheong added he would dispute Washington's calculation of its 25% tariff on South Korea, which he called "problematic" given the two countries' free trade pact. (Reporting by Ju-min Park, Joyce Lee, Cynthia Kim and Jihoon Lee in Seoul and Susan Heavey, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Alexandra Hudson, Gareth Jones, Don Durfee, Rod Nickel and Deepa Babington)