Trade ministers from China, Japan and South Korea renewed their call to exchange an open and fair flow of commodities, pledging to enhance economic relations, a few days before the decision of US President Donald Trump to impose new customs duties on the countries of the world.
South Korean Minister of Industry Ann Duke-Jeon and his Japanese counterpart Yuji Moto and Chinese Wang Winto discussed the Seoul Free Trade Agreement on Sunday, and although they did not indicate any progress mentioned towards the conclusion of an agreement, the meeting showed an increasing desire between the three countries to strengthen relations in light of facing the effects of American customs duties.
The ministers said, in a joint statement, “We realized in particular the necessity of continuing the tripartite economic and commercial cooperation to meet the effective challenges effectively, and to achieve tangible results in the main fields.”
The meeting was held at a time when the US tax of 25% is scheduled for car imports on April 3, and South Korea and Japan are a senior car exporter to America.
Stroke sectors
Trump is also expected to announce what is called mutual customs duties, which may affect sectors that include semiconductor and medicines, and any effect on chips sales will be particularly harmful to South Korea, as it is still a major engine of growth in the export country.
The three Asian countries are among the countries targeted by Trump, while China is in the midst of a renewed trade war with the United States, Washington’s broader use of customs duties shows that even America’s allies, including Japan and South Korea, are not immune to threats.
The last meeting between countries is in line with the message that China has been sending, which is that it is open to business, unlike the most protectionist “America first” policies pursued by the United States.
Regional partnership
Chinese President Xi Jinping met a group of international business leaders in Beijing, in an attempt to enhance the confidence of investors, in light of the increasing customs duties that feed the state of uncertainty about the economy and international trade, and the meeting was attended by Wang and executive officials, including Jay Way Li, CEO of Samsung Electronics, and Kwak Nuh Jong, CEO of SK Hynix, and they are two companies. Two Korean southern.
The three ministers pledged to strengthen the comprehensive regional economic partnership, a framework that aims to simplify supply chains, and to enhance trade and investment between the largest economies in Asia, including China, Japan and South Korea.
American customs duties on Japan cars have been a study of measures to protect local jobs, while South Korea announced that it would take emergency steps to help its auto companies, and China imposed a reprisal fee on the United States, and seeks to stabilize relations with its main commercial partners.
