Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo welcomed rival parties’ agreement to form a special committee and pass a bill related to South Korea’s investment pledges to the United States within a month, saying that it would help deter a threatened tariff hike.

Yeo made the remarks on Thursday after returning from his U.S. visit in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on South Korean goods.

He said that during his trip, which began on December 29, he held wide-ranging discussions with U.S. officials, including the deputy U.S. trade representative, as well as members of Congress and representatives of think tanks, to dispel misunderstandings about South Korea's commitment to its investment pledges.

Yeo said he'd stressed that South Korea was willing to faithfully and promptly implement the tariff agreement and that it would be undesirable for Washington to raise tariffs when Seoul was making good-faith efforts.

The trade minister said that although he'd been unable to meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer due to scheduling conflicts, he had held three rounds of in-depth consultations at various levels, including with the USTR deputy and bureau-level officials.

He added he had met Greer five times over the past three weeks and planned to continue talks with the USTR next week.