A ruling party lawmaker says the U.S. secretary of commerce has agreed with the view that South Korean automobiles should be excluded from stiff U.S. tariffs.

Ruling Democratic Party floor leader Hong Young-pyo and the floor leaders of four other parties held talks with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Washington on Thursday.

According to Hong, the secretary agreed with the opinion expressed by the South Korean lawmakers that imposing high auto tariffs on Korea will be a double burden because U.S. demands related to autos have already been considerably reflected in the renegotiated bilateral free trade agreement.

The floor leaders asked secretary Ross to propose exempting South Korean automobiles from being subject to Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act in a final report the Department of Commerce is expected to submit to President Donald Trump next month.

Lawmaker Hong said that not only Ross but Acting Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Stephen Mull also reacted positively to Korea's stance regarding trade issues in general.