US-China trade tensions concern for Southeast Asia: Singapore PM
The increasing trade tensions between the US and China pose one of the most pressing concerns for Southeast Asian nations, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Singapore (VNA) – The increasing tradetensions between the US and China pose one of the most pressing concerns forSoutheast Asian nations, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said.
He flagged his concerns over the recent trade tensions between the US andChina, which are among top trading partners of Singapore, while addressing the32nd ASEAN Summit in Singapore on April 28.
The open and rules-based multilateral tradingsystems, which has underpinned the growth of ASEAN member states, has comeunder pressure as the political mood in many countries has shifted against freetrade, he said.
To counter pressure from mounting tradeprotectionism, ASEAN needs to push ahead with extensive and intensiveintegration among economies as well as enhance cooperation in new fields, hesuggested.
ASEAN is a regional group that promotes economic, political and security cooperationamong its 10 members, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The trade tensions between the US and China haveescalated in recent times when both countries have proposed tariffs of 50billion USD on each other's products. President Donald Trump is looking toimpose tariffs of up to 100 billion USD more on Chinese goods.-VNA
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Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Photo: AFP/VNA) 
