Challenges and Opportunities for U.S.-Japan-Korea Trilateral Trade Relations
On June 3rd, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Vice President Wendy Cutler joined a moderated discussion with Waseda University Professor Emeritus and Economic Research Institute for East Asia and ASEAN Senior Research Advisor Shujiro Urata, Korea Development Institute and Johns Hopkins University Professor Wonhyuk Lim, Korea Society President Tom Byrne, and Japan Society President Joshua W. Walker on the dynamics of U.S.-Japan-Korea trade relations and regional economic integration.
Cutler shares that a key challenge for the Biden Administration, as it articulates its trade policy, is to "square the circle" with the U.S.' competing desire to be active and show leadership in the Indo-Pacific region yet be responsive to domestic concerns about entering into new trade agreements. Although Japan and South Korea hope the U.S. will resume leadership on trade and economic bilateral and regional relations, according to Cutler, the U.S. is focusing more on the “enforcement of existing obligations and taking steps to make sure trade is fair, particularly when it comes to China.” Moving forward, Cutler asserts that the U.S. will need to collaborate with Japan, South Korea, and other allies and partners to urge China to address issues of excess capacity in key sectors including steel and aluminum.