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South Korea to draft 10 trillion

China, S. Korea, Japan agree to strengthen free trade

won extra budget SEOUL: South Korea will soon submit a 10 trillion won (RM30 billion) supplementary budget bill to parliament to respond to the fallout from the country’s worst-ever forest fires and counter slumping growth, the finance minister said yesterday. Choi Sang-mok told an urgently scheduled policy meeting that the fires have destroyed 48,000ha and caused 75 casualties. “We plan to draw up an emergency supplementary budget worth 10 trillion won we can swiftly execute,” Choi said, urging Parliament to approve the measure before the end of April. Asia’s fourth-largest economy is grappling with the fires, which killed at least 30 people and prompted calls for national reforms to better tackle such disasters. South Korea also faces additional US tariffs from President Donald Trump in coming days, potentially damaging sectors across chips, pharmaceuticals and autos in a major challenge for the export-reliant nation. South Korea’s central bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.75% and significantly lowered its economic growth forecasts last month, taking the economy from a restrictive monetary policy stance towards a neutral one to support growth. – Reuters Beef bowl chain to shut stores after rat and bug incidents TOKYO: Japanese restaurant chain Sukiya will temporarily shut nearly all of its roughly 2,000 branches after a rat was found in a miso soup and a bug in another meal, the company said on Saturday. Sukiya, famous for its beef bowls, apologised in a statement saying a bug contamination at one of its Tokyo restaurants on Friday, two months after the rat incident at another branch. “Sukiya has decided to temporarily close all restaurants, with the exception of some stores in shopping centres, from March 31 to April 4 in order to take measures against pests and vermin,”it said. The fast-food company has about 1,970 stores across Japan. The Nikkei business daily reported that its stores in shopping centres will also be closed as soon as arrangements are made with the facilities. Food recalls are rare in Japan, a country with famously high sanitation standards, but food poisoning and recall incidents occasionally make headlines. – AFP

o Seoul says three countries must respond ‘jointly’ to shared global challenges

SEOUL: China, South Korea and Japan agreed yesterday to strengthen free trade in the face of a raft of new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. The agreement came at a meeting of top trade officials – the first at that level in five years – days ahead of the start of tariffs on a huge range of American imports, including cars, trucks, and auto parts. South Korea and Japan are major auto exporters, while China has also been hit hard by the US tariffs. The meeting was attended by South Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun, his Japanese counterpart Yoji Muto, and China’s Wang Wentao. The three countries called for their negotiations for a comprehensive trilateral free-trade agreement to be speeded up, and

“substantial convergence on the contours of a trade deal”. They had not however finalised terms of reference to clearly define the scope of a trade agreement, it said. The US decision to impose a 25% tariff on nations that purchase oil from Venezuela will also affect India, which has been a buyer of its crude. Trump, after calling out India as “one of the highest tariffing nations in the world”, later hinted that “it’s going to work out very well” with New Delhi, without giving further details. – AFP from April 2 to remedy practices he deems unfair. But he also told reporters last week that there would be “flexibility”, and markets appeared to react with some relief at the end of last week. Following the meeting between the three ministers, they also held bilateral meetings gatherings. Muto said regardless of domestic “political circumstances in either country”, he hopes that exchanges and cooperation will continue with South Korea. Muto said that the two countries face many common challenges, such as energy issues, which have a significant reliance on foreign and securing critical minerals. “There may, at times, be political or diplomatic difficulties, but I strongly hope that social and economic activities will continue without disruption, allowing our businesses to operate without obstacles,” he said. The countries have long been locked in bitter historical disputes, including over Japan’s use of forced labour during its decades-long occupation of the Korean peninsula. Tensions escalated in 2018 when South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered Japanese firms to compensate victims of wartime forced labour, triggering a series of tit-for-tat economic measures. Experts say US tariffs, particularly on automobiles, will heavily impact the two countries, as both are highly dependent on exports to America. South Korea’s Ahn said last Thursday that because 50% of South Korea’s automobile exports go to the United States, the tariffs “raise concerns over significant damage to the industry”. Japan is home to the world’s top-selling carmaker Toyota, and the health of the auto industry impacts many sectors, from parts manufacturing to steel and microchips. Of the country’s ¥21.3 trillion (RM647 billion) of US-bound exports in 2024, cars and other vehicles accounted for roughly a third. – AFP

must assume responsibility to safeguard the multilateral trading system. The three countries account for 20% of the world’s population, 24% of the global economy, and 19% of global merchandise trade, he said. According to the South Korean Trade Ministry, Ahn emphasised that protectionism was “not the answer” and urged efforts to ensure the World Trade Organisation functions properly to “safeguard the stability and predictability” of global commerce. Trump has promised tariffs tailored to each trading partner

agreed to create “a predictable trade and investment environment”, a statement said. Ahn said the three countries must respond “jointly” to shared global challenges. “Today’s economic and trade environment is marked by increasing fragmentation of the global economy,” he said. “The international environment surrounding us is constantly changing, and uncertainties are increasing,” Japanese trade official Yasuji Komiyama told a press briefing. Chinese official Wang Liping said “unilateralism and protectionism are spreading”, and the three countries

Ahn (centre) poses for a photo with Muto (left) and Wang during the 13th Trilateral Economic and Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Seoul yesterday. – AFPPIC

No sign of India tariff relief as US trade mission ends NEW DELHI: India and the United States have agreed to finalise part of a bilateral trade deal by this year but neither side gave indications of any tariff exemptions for the world’s most populous nation. non-tariff barriers and deepening supply chain integration”, it said. sought to reduce trade tensions with the US by cutting tariffs on a few products, including motorcycles and bourbon whiskey.

leave it open to potential retaliatory tariffs from the Trump administration. Officials from both sides had “broadly come to an understanding on the next steps towards a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), with the goal to finalize its first tranche by fall 2025”, India’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Both countries “exchanged views on deepening bilateral cooperation in priority areas including increasing market access, reducing tariff and

There was no suggestion in the statement however that any action on those barriers would be taken ahead of April 2, when new US tariffs on its worldwide trade partners are slated to start. Credit rating agency India Ratings and Research projects the proposed tariffs could see the country’s exports to the United States decline by up to US$7.3 billion in the next fiscal year. India has over the last two months

Before last week’s trade mission, Indian media reports had suggested the government might offer to scrap a levy on online services such as advertising. The reports also said New Delhi was willing to cut tariffs on cars, electronics and medical services. The Indian Express , quoting an unnamed government official, reported yesterday that the counterparts had

Both countries held trade talks in New Delhi last week days out from the start of US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal trade tariff regime, which includes punitive import levies against India, from April 2. India’s protectionist policies and its trade surplus with the United States