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China, South Korea and Japan agree to strengthen free trade

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Agence France-Presse

<p>SEOUL — China, South Korea and Japan agreed Sunday to strengthen free trade, according to a joint statement from their top officials meeting in Seoul.</p><p>The meeting — the first at that level in five years — comes after US President Donald Trump has thrown global trade into turmoil with a raft of punitive tariffs on a huge range of imports, including cars, trucks, and auto parts.</p><p>South Korea and Japan are major auto exporters, while China has also been hit hard by new US tariffs.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/3/26/trump-announces-25-tariffs-on-foreign-built-vehicles-0652">Trump announces 25% tariffs on foreign-built vehicles</a></div><p>The meeting was attended by South Korea&#x27;s industry minister Ahn Duk-geun, his Japanese counterpart Yoji Muto, and China&#x27;s Wang Wentao.</p><p>The three countries called for their negotiations for a comprehensive trilateral free-trade agreement to be speeded up, and agreed to create &quot;a predictable trade and investment environment&quot;, a statement said.</p><p>South Korea Ahn said the three countries must respond &quot;jointly&quot; to shared global challenges.</p><p>&quot;Today’s economic and trade environment is marked by increasing fragmentation of the global economy,&quot; he said.</p><p>Trump has promised tariffs tailored to each trading partner from April 2 to remedy practices he deems unfair.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/3/24/trump-to-impose-sharp-tariff-on-countries-buying-venezuelan-oil-0632">Trump to impose sharp tariff on countries buying Venezuelan oil</a></div><p>But he also told reporters last week that there would be &quot;flexibility&quot;, and markets appeared to react with some relief at the end of last week.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xZ-VbkjMo7U?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The meeting — the first at that level in five years — comes after US President Donald Trump has thrown global trade into turmoil with a raft of punitive tariffs on a huge range of imports, including cars, trucks, and auto parts.</p>

The meeting — the first at that level in five years — comes after US President Donald Trump has thrown global trade into turmoil with a raft of punitive tariffs on a huge range of imports, including cars, trucks, and auto parts.