ASEAN+3 Officials Reaffirm Commitment to Free Trade

   Milan, May 4 (Jiji Press)--Finance ministers and central bank leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea, or ASEAN+3, met in Milan on Sunday and reaffirmed their commitment to free and open trade amid uncertainties stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
   "We reaffirm our full commitment to multilateralism, and a rules-based, non-discriminatory, free, fair, open, inclusive, equitable, and transparent multilateral trading system," the ASEAN+3 officials said in a joint statement adopted at the meeting.
   "We call for enhanced regional unity and cooperation as we endeavor to weather the heightened uncertainty," they noted.
   The ASEAN+3 meeting was held on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting that kicked off in the northern Italian city on the same day.
   "The participants mentioned the U.S. tariff measures from their respective perspectives," Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters after the meeting. He added that the Japanese side noted that it is strongly urging the United States in their tariff negotiations to reconsider a series of tariff measures imposed under the Trump administration.

(2025/05/05-12:45)