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Asian countries denounce ‘real threat’ of global trade war
SINGAPORE, Aug 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Asian countries have voiced concern
about the potentially devastating impact of a US-China trade war, with
ministers calling for the acceleration of talks for a gigantic Beijing-backed
free-trade deal that excludes the United States.
Fear that a simmering trade spat between the world’s top two economies
could spiral into a full-blown trade war — with painful consequences for
China’s neighbours — was among topics dominating discussion at a regional
summit in Singapore on Saturday.
Tit-for-tat tariffs have fuelled months of tensions that were notched up
Friday as Beijing threatened to impose levies on $60 billion of American
goods, from beef to condoms.
The measures, which the White House ridiculed as “weak” but China said
were “fully justified”, came after Washington said it would increase the rate
of additional tariffs on Chinese goods worth $200 billion.
The prospect of a trade war is a “real threat” to Asian countries,
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told reporters Saturday on the
sidelines of the summit.
“The threat is making many countries very concerned and… is becoming
more complex,” he said.
Other top Asian diplomats at Saturday’s forum, hosted by the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), spoke out against protectionism, warning
that it places the region’s development in jeopardy.
“Rising anti-globalisation and trade protectionism among major countries
is fuelling tensions and threatening our aspirations for sustained economic
growth,” said South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
Countries in the region must “explore creative ways to further deepen and
broaden our cooperation”, in the face of such challenges, she said.
Some ministers have called for the early conclusion of talks for the
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 16-nation pact poised
to become the world’s largest free-trade agreement, covering about half the
global population.
The planned RCEP deal would group the 10 members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, India, Japan, South Korea,
Australia and New Zealand.
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– ‘Protectionism on the rise’ –
But it would not include the United States, which had been leading another
regional trade pact — the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — until US
President Donald Trump abruptly abandoned it last year.
Even with the lure to access to the world’s largest economy withdrawn, the
eleven remaining TPP countries, who make up 13.5 percent of the global
economy, signed a slimmed-down version of the pact in March.
It cuts tariffs and requires members to comply with a high level of
regulatory standards in areas like labour law and environmental protection.
RCEP also aims to cut tariffs but has far less regulatory standards
attached than TPP.
Nonetheless, Washington’s abandonment of TPP has given the RCEP
negotiations a fresh shot in the arm.
“Given the current global situation where protectionism is on the rise,
Japan would like to achieve a swift conclusion of our RCEP negotiations,”
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said he hoped the RCEP pact
would be complete by the end of the year, while Foreign Minister Vivian
Balakrishnan urged countries facing “headwinds against free trade” to rally
together.
The US imposed 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods in early
July, sparking retaliatory measures from China.
Days later, Washington unveiled a list of another $200 billion in Chinese
goods from electrical machinery to seafood that would be hit with 10 percent
import duties.
Trump upped the ante this week by threatening to lift the tariff rate to
25 percent.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the US position and hit back at
China.
“President Trump inherited an unfair trade regime where American workers
and American companies were not treated reciprocally by the Chinese,” he said
Saturday.
“Efforts of the Trump administration are to right that, to correct it, to
adjust that.”
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