With the United States announcing the implementation of large-scale tariffs, China, Japan, and South Korea expressed their commitment to strengthen cooperation, holding a second trilateral meeting in just nine days.
The first trilateral meeting of the year between China, Japan, and South Korea took place on March 30. It is understood that the meeting discussed concerns about the global and individual economic outlooks, as the aforementioned tariff policies would affect trade, business, and consumer confidence, thereby exacerbating tense diplomatic relations.
On the 2nd of this month, U.S. President Trump announced the implementation of a 10% base tariff and applied "reciprocal tariffs" to certain trading partner countries, including facing a 34% import tariff on China and imposing a 24% tariff on Japan; meanwhile, South Korea is negotiating to lower the imposed 25% rate.
Global markets suffered setbacks on Monday, with reports indicating that the market valuation of major sectors lost over $10 trillion; the Malaysian stock market's total value also significantly shrank, evaporating about 93 billion Malaysian Ringgit.
This second trilateral meeting was held during the 12th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM), attended by Chinese Vice Finance Minister Liao Min, Japanese Vice Finance Minister Mitsuru Mizukawa, and South Korean Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Ji-young.
The three leaders are expected to participate in two ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Deputies Meetings (AFCDM+3) today.
In late March, during a meeting held in Seoul, South Korea, China, Japan, and South Korea hinted at jointly addressing the increasingly tense tariff situation.
This meeting marked the first economic dialogue in five years among these three major Asian exporting nations, which aim to strengthen regional trade cooperation as U.S. protectionism intensifies.
Following the U.S. announcement of reciprocal tariff measures, China also announced retaliatory tariffs of 34% on all U.S. imports starting on the 10th of this month.
Given the global concerns about a trade war sparked by the U.S. tariff measures, this partnership is seen as increasingly important.
China, Japan, and South Korea also agreed to accelerate negotiations for a trilateral free trade agreement, although specific progress has yet to be seen.