South Korea has asked the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to exclude the country from proposed tariffs, citing an existing free trade agreement and low import duties, Seoul's Trade Ministry said Friday.

South Korean officials have requested an exemption from U.S. reciprocal, steel and aluminium tariffs during their visit this week to Washington, the industry ministry said in a statement on Friday.

South Korea's Deputy Trade Minister Park Jong-won has filed a request with the U.S. government to leave South Korea out of its new import tariff plans, highlighting the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) that has been in place for over a decade,

South Korean officials have asked the Trump administration to exclude their country from U.S. plans to impose aggressive tariffs on trade partners, emphasizing that Seoul is already applying low duties on American products under the free trade agreement between the two nations.

Seoul, South Korea - Recent Residents of Seoul, the South Korean Capital, have criticized the new tariff policies of the United States, saying that using tariffs as a tool to exert pressure on other countries will have negative consequences for global trade.