New Delhi: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on Thursday warned its 21 member nations that the region would not witness much growth in trade this year owing to the US trade tariff drama, reports Reuters.
In its latest Regional Trends Analysis report, the region is expected to see a very modest rise in trade of only 0.4 per cent this year, after rising 5.7 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, APEC also slashed its regional economic growth projection to 2.6 per cent this year from 3.3 per cent last year.
"Trade growth is set to decline sharply across APEC due to lower external demand, particularly in manufacturing and consumer goods, while rising uncertainty over goods-related measures weighs on services trade," APEC said in a statement.
The Trump administration has imposed broad tariffs that will affect more than half of APEC's member economies. These measures threaten to reverse decades of progress in lowering regional tariff rates, which had fallen from 17 per cent in 1989 to just 5.3 per cent by 2021, leading to a nine-fold surge in merchandise trade.
Trade representatives of the member countries are meeting in a two-day summit starting Thursday to discuss multilateral trade and other cooperation agendas, including reforms of the World Trade Organization (WTO) amid current challenges.
Earlier, the US has accused the WTO of giving China unfair trade advantages and has paused funding to the organisation.
China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang is also attending the summit. Although he recently met with Jamieson Greer in Geneva, where they agreed to cut reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, it's uncertain whether another meeting between them will occur in Jeju.
This ministerial meeting is part of a broader round of APEC discussions leading up to a major leaders' summit in Gyeongju later this year. APEC economies represent about 50 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of worldwide GDP.
As global economic uncertainties grow, the outcome of these talks may shape the future direction of trade in the Asia-Pacific region.
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