ASEAN undertakes not to respond to American customs duties

This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:

Hibapress

The Ministers of the Economy of the Association of Nations of Southeast Asia (ASEAN) announced Thursday that they would not take retaliatory measures against the United States following the taxation of additional customs duties on their exports.

In a statement published after a video conferencing meeting, the ministers expressed their “deep concern” concerning the recent introduction of customs duties by the United States and called for dialogue to resolve this commercial dispute.

“ASEAN, as a fifth largest economy in the world, undertakes not to impose retaliatory measures in response to American customs duties,” said the ministers, stressing their desire to lead “a frank and constructive dialogue with the United States to deal with trade concerns”.

The ten member countries of this regional block were particularly affected by American surcharge announced on April 2. Vietnam has thus seen its exports struck by additional customs duties of 46%, while Cambodia suffered an increase reaching 49%.

Other member countries such as Laos (48%), Burma (44%), Thailand (36%), Indonesia (32%) and Malaysia (24%) were also harshly affected.

President Donald Trump, however, announced on Wednesday a provisional reduction in customs duties to 10% for most countries not having retaliated.

Malaysia, which currently provides the rotating presidency of the ASEAN, coordinates the collective response of this economic block, the United States of which constitute the main export market.