Asia watches Trump’s plan for import tax
Talk of a possible 20 percent tax on US imports from Mexico raised eyebrows Friday in Asia, where exports to the US drive growth in many economies.
Reaction to the news was more muted than it might have been, however, since much of the region was closed for lunar new year holidays.
Japanese officials said Friday they hoped to meet soon with US officials. Finance Minister Taro Aso said the Japanese side should “thoroughly explain” how Japanese companies have been contributing to American society, including creating jobs.
“It would be important to exchange opinions to accurately convey the reality and establish a steady relationship,” Aso told reporters.
President Donald Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer said the 20 percent tax was among several options to finance building a wall along the US southern border, but no decision has been made.
No way, Mr. President
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto scrapped a scheduled trip to Washington next week over the issue. He has flatly rejected Trump’s assertion that Mexico will pay for the wall on its border.
Though he did not refer directly to Trump, in remarks marking the eve of the lunar new year on Friday, China’s Premier Li Keqiang said, “Above all, we remain convinced that economic openness serves everyone better, at home and abroad.
“The world is a community of shared destiny. It’s far preferable for countries to trade goods and services and bond through investment partnerships than to trade barbs and build barriers. Should differences arise, it behooves us all to discuss them with respect and a keen sense of equality,” he said.
Uncertainty over future trade ties with the US rose after Trump pulled the US out of a Pacific Rim trade initiative, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that formed the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s moves to strengthen US economic ties.
A steep tariff on exports from Mexico to the US would pinch manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corp., which like nearly all other automakers, builds small cars in Mexico to take advantage of its lower wages.
Toyota employs thousands of people at factories in the U.S, but it also is planning to build a plant in Mexico to make the popular Corolla subcompact.
Trump also has threatened to impose steep tariffs on imports from China, which ran a $ 319 billion surplus with the US in January- November 2016, compared with Japan’s $ 62.4 billion surplus and Mexico’s $ 60 billion, according to US figures.