China, South Korea and Japan yesterday agreed to strengthen free trade in the face of a raft of new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The agreement came at a meeting of top trade officials — the first at that level in five years — days ahead of the start of tariffs on a huge range of US imports, including cars, trucks and auto parts.
South Korea and Japan are major auto exporters, while China has also been hit hard by US tariffs. The meeting was attended by South Korean Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy Ahn Duk-geun, his Japanese counterpart Yoji Muto, and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤).
Photo: AFP
The three countries called for their negotiations for a comprehensive trilateral free-trade agreement to be sped up, and agreed to create “a predictable trade and investment environment,” a statement said.
The three countries must respond “jointly” to shared global challenges, Ahn said.
“Today’s economic and trade environment is marked by increasing fragmentation of the global economy,” he said.
“The international environment surrounding us is constantly changing, and uncertainties are increasing,” Japanese trade official Yasuji Komiyama told a news briefing.
Ahn emphasized that protectionism was “not the answer” and urged efforts to ensure the WTO functions properly to “safeguard the stability and predictability” of global commerce, the South Korean trade ministry said.
Trump has promised tariffs tailored to each trading partner from Wednesday to remedy practices he deems unfair.
However, he also told reporters last week that there would be “flexibility,” and markets appeared to react with some relief at the end of last week.
Following the meeting between the three ministers, they also held bilateral meetings gatherings.
Muto said regardless of domestic “political circumstances in either country,” he hopes that exchanges and cooperation would continue with South Korea.
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