US to seal South-east Asia trade deals in coming months, trade representative says
[KUALA LUMPUR] The US expects to finalise trade deals with more South-east Asian countries in the coming months, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said during a meeting with regional counterparts on Wednesday (Sep 24).
Greer was speaking in Kuala Lumpur at the start of a meeting with economic ministers from the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations, amid concerns within the export-reliant bloc over the impact of US tariffs on their economies.
Tariff rates have been set at 19 per cent and 20 per cent for most of the region. Laos and Myanmar have been hit with a 40 per cent rate, while Singapore has a 10 per cent tariff.
Greer said talks with respective countries on the levies have been progressing well, with agreements to be finalised “in the coming months or even weeks, for some.”
“We believe that there are many areas where our interests align, and we can work together to achieve shared goals of bringing reciprocity and balance to the global trading system,” he said.
Indonesia and Vietnam have already negotiated new trade deals with the US, securing lower tariffs in the process.
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But Vietnam, the world’s sixth-largest exporter to the US, risks losing US$25 billion annually as a result of the 20 per cent tariff imposed on its goods, which would make it the worst-hit economy in the region, according to estimates released by the United Nations Development Programme.
Wednesday marked Greer’s first meeting with the Asean bloc, whose members have largely engaged in separate negotiations with the US on the issue of tariffs.
But the grouping may be driven to take a more unified position amid risks of steeper sectoral tariffs on industries such as semiconductors, a significant contributor to economies like Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
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US President Donald Trump said last month he would set a tariff of about 100 per cent on semiconductors, but it would not apply to companies that are manufacturing in the US or have committed to do so. REUTERS
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