Talk of a possible 20 percent tax on US imports from Mexico is raising eyebrows in Asia, where exports to the US drive growth in many economies.
However, reaction to the news was more muted than it might have been, since much of the region was closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Japanese officials yesterday said that they hoped to meet soon with US officials.
Photograph: Bloomberg
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said the Japanese side should “thoroughly explain” how Japanese companies have been contributing to US society, including creating jobs.
“It would be important to exchange opinions to accurately convey the reality and establish a steady relationship,” Aso told reporters.
US President Donald Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer said the 20 percent tax was among several options to finance building a wall along the US southern border, but no decision has been made.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto scrapped a scheduled trip to Washington next week over the issue.
Xinhua news agency reported that Trump was considering the 20 percent tariffs without any editorial comment. However, the report cited unnamed analysts as saying Trump would have to withdraw the US from NAFTA to be able to impose such a tax. Trump has said he wants to renegotiate NAFTA.
Though he did not refer directly to Trump, in remarks marking the eve of the Lunar New Year yesterday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) said: “Above all, we remain convinced that economic openness serves everyone better, at home and abroad.”
“The world is a community of shared destiny. It’s far preferable for countries to trade goods and services and bond through investment partnerships than to trade barbs and build barriers. Should differences arise, it behooves us all to discuss them with respect and a keen sense of equality,” he said.
It is unclear how much of Trump’s campaign rhetoric will become reality, said Kent Calder, director of Asia Programs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
“But the general symbolism that America is growing protectionist I think deeply concerns almost all Asian countries because they are pre-eminent exporters, and many of them heavily dependent on exports and so that has major implications for them, even if this is specifically aimed first of all at Mexico,” he said
Japan’s chief government spokesman refused to comment on the spat, but said Tokyo would watch for any impact on Japanese firms.
A steep tariff on exports from Mexico to the US could have a chilling effect on manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corp, which like nearly all other automakers builds small cars in Mexico to take advantage of its lower wages.
Along with other Japanese automakers, Toyota employs thousands of people at factories in the US.
It is also planning to build a plant in Mexico to make the popular Corolla subcompact.
Opposition parties in Japan have lambasted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over Trump’s decision to pull out of a Pacific Rim trade initiative, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that former president Barack Obama had made the centerpiece of efforts to strengthen US economic ties in the region.
Abe yesterday said he believed Japan could work with the US on a bilateral trade deal, the type of arrangement Trump says he prefers, while also pursuing wider trade arrangements like the TPP.
Trump will seek quick progress toward a bilateral trade agreement with Japan in place of the TPP when Abe visits the White House next month, an official in the Trump administration said on Thursday.
“I see Abe’s visit being more about finding a follow-through, a replacement for TPP,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Given the domestic political capital [Abe has] expended on TPP, there’s going to be an effort to work with him on a follow-on.”
Trump reiterated on Thursday that he would strike numerous bilateral deals.
The White House declined to comment on the official’s remarks.
“We look forward to Prime Minister Abe’s upcoming visit and a productive relationship with Japan,” a White House official said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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