South Korea hosts a rare three-way economic summit with Japan and China
As the tariffs imposed by US President Trump heat up the trade war, the three countries are looking for new ways of working together. The summit got underway today until tomorrow in Seoul. The South Koreans and Japanese are concerned about tariffs on cars. Meanwhile, Beijing announces countermeasures if Washington continues the trade war.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – While economic relations have become acrimonious between the United States and the European Union – who are still, formally at least, allies – over US tariffs and the EU’s response, unprecedented steps are being tried in another part of the world to work together.
A senior South Korean trade official announced a summit, the first in five years, today and tomorrow in Seoul between South Korea, Japan and China to discuss economic cooperation, a few days after US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on all cars and light trucks not built in the US.
South Korea and Japan are major car exporters while China has also been hit hard by US tariffs in what increasingly looks like a trade war.
The South Korean government source said that South Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun and his Japanese counterpart, Yoji Muto, plus China’s Wang Wentao are expected to attend the “Trilateral Economic and Trade Ministers’ Meeting”.
Bilateral meetings between the countries are also scheduled.
Minister Ahn said on Thursday that because 50 per cent of South Korea’s automobile exports go to the US, the tariffs “raise concerns over significant damage to the industry”.
“The process of responding to US tariff measures will not be resolved in a single round of talks, and is expected to take time,” he said during a government emergency meeting.
“Despite growing global uncertainties, the government will stand with our companies throughout this process,” Ahn added.
In early March, Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese exports to the US, after a similar move in February, which will certainly affect hundreds of billions of dollars in trade between the world's two largest economies.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao warned that US tariffs threatened to “disrupt the stability of the global industrial supply chain and hinder the development of the global economy”.
He also said words that sound like a threat, “if the United States continues down this wrong path, we will fight to the end”.
A spokesperson for the Japanese government on Thursday also said that US tariffs on car imports were “extremely regrettable”.
Japan is home to Toyota, the world's best-selling automaker, and the industry’s health is affecting many other sectors, from parts manufacturing to steel and microchips.
Last year, cars and other vehicles accounted for roughly a third of Japan’s 21.3 trillion yen (US$ 142 billion) exports bound to the US.
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