Asian Nations Discuss Impact of US Tariffs and Strengthening Regional Cooperation

By Staff, Agencies

Officials from China, Japan, South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries gathered this week to discuss the impact of US tariffs on the global and regional economies.

The meeting took place on April 8–9 in Malaysia, with Xuan Changneng, the deputy governor of China’s central bank, attending the regular session of the ASEAN finance and central bank deputies.

The discussions centered around the economic consequences of US tariffs and the outlook for both global and regional economies.

A key topic was the enhancement of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization [CMIM] and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office [AMRO].

The officials reached a broad consensus on deepening policy coordination and strengthening regional financial safety nets.

In addition, China, Japan, and South Korea held a separate Tripartite Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting to exchange views on the economic outlook and regional financial cooperation.

The Chinese central bank emphasized that it will continue to implement accommodative monetary policies and support the stability of financial markets to maintain economic recovery momentum.

This discussion follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement of increased tariffs globally, including a pause on "reciprocal tariffs" for most countries, except China.

Trump raised tariffs on China to 125%, leading China to accuse the US of using tariffs as a "weapon" and exerting "maximum pressure."