Kathmandu. China, South Korea and Japan agreed on Sunday to strengthen free trade in the face of new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The agreement came just days before the tariffs on a wide range of US imports, including cars, trucks and auto parts, kick in at the first such meeting of top trade officials in five years. South Korea and Japan are major auto exporters, while China has also been hit hard by the US tariffs.
The meeting was attended by South Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn Deok-gyun, his Japanese counterpart Yoji Muto and China’s Wang Wentao. “The three countries called for accelerating their negotiations for a comprehensive trilateral free-trade agreement and agreed to create a predictable trade and investment environment,” a statement said.
South Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn said the three countries must “jointly” address common global challenges. “Today’s economic and trade environment is marked by the increasing fragmentation of the global economy,” he said. “The international environment around us is constantly changing, and uncertainty is increasing,” Japanese trade official Yasuji Komiyama told a news conference.
Chinese official Wang Liping said, “Unilateralism and protectionism are spreading, and the three countries must take responsibility to safeguard the multilateral trading system.” According to him, these three countries account for 20 percent of the world’s population, 24 percent of the world economy and 19 percent of global trade.
Trump has promised special tariffs for each trading partner to address unfair practices from April 2. But he also told reporters last week that there would be “flexibility” and that markets had responded with some relief late last week.
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