OPINION: ‘Asean shouldn’t take sides in trade war’ – By Bernadette E. Tamayo

Bernadette E. Tamayo

BANGKOK: Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should not take sides in the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, according to a Thai central bank official.

At the 3rd Asean Media Forum here on Monday, Bank of Thailand board member Suthad Setboonsarng said countries in the region “should not be wasting…time worrying about those wars. We focus on what we need to do.”

“We must stop taking sides. We want to do it differently. We are in a win-win situation [when we are] not being dragged into one side,” he added.

According to him, the trade war should be “resolved quickly to prevent further global damage.”

Setboonsarng’s remarks come ahead of the resumption of trade talks between Washington and Beijing in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday, a month after US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed during the Group of 20 meeting in Osaka, Japan to go back to the negotiating table after talks stalled in May.

Tensions between the world’s two leading economies — which began last year after Trump accused China of engaging in unfair trade practices — saw them slapping tit-for-tat tariffs worth billions of dollars on each other’s goods. These put global markets on edge for months and resulted in reduced growth projections for this year.

New government mechanism needed

“[The] global economy is in transition toward greater integration. A new government mechanism should be developed to usher in the new global economy,” Setboonsarng said.

The integration of Asia will come closer to reality with the application of new technology, and Asean has many mechanisms that should be revised to make them more relevant.

Setboonsarng said the future of the Asean economy is in the “integration and globalization of Asia,” adding that the continent’s 3.4 billion inhabitants needed to move ahead quickly.

A key area to focus for the emerging global landscape, he said, is reviewing and strengthening the global trade mechanism and organization to create a new environment for future economic activities.

He warned, however that “more skirmishes are yet to come.”

“US [tariffs are] expanding to cover more countries, including [the] European Union and India,” he said.

Other issues can be added to this, such a exchange rate manipulation, intellectual property rights, labor and the environment, he added.

The Manila Times

All photographs, news, editorials, opinions, information, data, others have been taken from the Internet ..aseanews.net | [email protected]

.|.For comments, Email to :D’Equalizer | [email protected] | Contributor