SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea, China and Japan resumed their discussions on Sunday for a possible free trade agreement while the three Asian exporting powers are preparing to tighten American customs duties.
In Seoul, the Japanese ministers of Japanese trade Yoji Muto, South Korean Ahn Duk-Geun and Chinese Wang Wentao have agreed to “cooperate closely to conduct global and high-level discussions” with a view to a free trade agreement and in order to promote “regional and global trade”, according to a statement published after the meeting.
The three countries had started discussions in 2012 with a view to establishing a tripartite free trade agreement, without much progress since.
“It is necessary to strengthen the implementation of the RCEP [Partenariat Régional Économique Global, Ndlr]in which the three countries participated, and to create a framework to expand commercial cooperation between the three countries, “said South Korean Minister of Commerce, Ahn Duk-Geun.
The RCEP, which entered into force in 2022, is a trade agreement signed between the ten countries of the Association of Nations of Southeast Asia (ASEAN) and five countries of the Asia-Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand) aimed at reducing trade barriers.
The United States must announce on April 2 – nicknamed by President Donald Trump “Liberation Day” – new so -called reciprocal customs duties on imports from countries with taxes on American products.
Donald Trump also announced customs duties of 25% on Wednesday on automobile imports and spare parts in the United States from April 2, a measure which could harm in particular Asian car manufacturers, which are among the largest vehicle exporters to the United States.
After Mexico, South Korea is the world’s leading exporter of vehicles to the United States, followed by Japan, according to S&P data.
Yoji Muto, Ahn Duk-Geun and Wang Wentao have agreed to hold their next ministerial meeting in Japan.
(Cynthia Kim report in Seoul, edited by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2025 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
