Seoul: China, South Korea and Japan agreed on Sunday to strengthen free trade in the face of a series of new prices imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The agreement took place during a meeting of senior trade officials – the first at this level in five years – days before the start of prices on a wide range of American imports, including cars, trucks and car parts.
South Korea and Japan are the major car exporters, while China has also been touched by American prices.
The meeting was followed by the Minister of Industry of South Korea, Ahn Duk-Geun, his Japanese counterpart Yoji Muto and Wang Wentao in China.
The three countries have asked for their negotiations for a complete free trade agreement to be accelerated and agreed to create “a commercial and predictable investment environment,” said a statement.
The AHN of South Korea said that the three countries were to respond “jointly” to shared global challenges.
“Today’s economic and commercial environment is marked by an increasing fragmentation of the global economy,” he said.
“The international environment around us is constantly evolving, and uncertainties increase,” said Japanese trade manager Yasuji Komiyama in a press briefing.
The Chinese official Wang Liping said that “unilateralism and protectionism spread” and that the three countries must assume the responsibility to protect the multilateral trade system.
The three countries represent 20% of the world’s population, 24% of the world economy and 19% of the world’s trade in goods, he said.
Trump promised prices adapted to each trading partner from April 2 to remedy the practices he deems unfair.
But he also told journalists last week that there would be “flexibility”, and the markets seemed to react with a certain relief at the end of last week.
