The finance chiefs of the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Japan, China and South Korea – have warned of the potential global economic fallout of protectionist trade policies, following the announcement of higher import tariffs by US President Donald Trump.’Escalating trade protectionism weighs on global trade, leading to economic fragmentation, affecting trade, investment and capital flows across the region,’ the finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement adopted when they met on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting in Milan, Italy.The statement of the ASEAN Plus Three countries also reaffirmed their commitment to a rules-based, free, fair and ‘transparent multilateral trading system.’In addition to sector-based tariffs, including on automobiles, Trump announced ‘reciprocal’ tariffs in early April. ASEAN members Cambodia and Vietnam are facing hefty US levies of 49% and 46%, respectively. Trump also imposed tariffs of 24% on imports from Japan.Noting that the outlook is ‘subject to heightened uncertainties,’ the finance chiefs called for ‘enhanced regional unity and cooperation.’They also agreed to update the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization, launched in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis to provide liquidity in times of emergency, widening its scope to cover pandemics and natural disasters.
