The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping cautioned on Thursday that the region’s exports will scarcely expand this year as U.S. tariffs go into effect.
Trade negotiators from the United States and China met on the sidelines of the summit to discuss trade tariffs further.
In a regional trends analysis study presented at its 2025 conference of ministers responsible for trade on South Korea’s resort island of Jeju, the 21-member APEC bloc forecast that regional exports would expand by only 0.4% this year, compared to 5.7% last year.
The bloc also cut its regional economic growth forecast for this year to 2.6% from 3.3% previously.
APEC said in a statement that “Trade growth is set to decline sharply across APEC due to lower external demand, particularly in manufacturing and consumer goods, while rising uncertainty over goods-related measures weighs on services trade”.
The Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs have targeted more than half of the APEC grouping, where regional average tariff rates fell to 5.3% by 2021, from 17% in 1989, when the non-binding economic forum was established. This period saw merchandise trade increase more than nine-fold.
For two days from Thursday, trade representatives of the member economies will discuss multilateral trade and other cooperation agendas, including reform of the World Trade Organization amid current challenges.
As host of the annual conference, South Korea Trade Minister Cheong will highlight how global economy and trade face added strain from uncertainties and will urge the bloc to foster dialogue to tackle political and economic challenges, according to prepared remarks relayed by his ministry.
Ahead of the main sessions, APEC policy director, Carlos Kuriyama, attributed the downgrading of the regional export outlook to the impact of U.S. tariffs and warned the reach of their ripple effects is still greater.
The APEC gathering is being attended by trade ministers and envoys from member countries including Japan, Canada, Mexico and Russia.
The trade ministers’ meeting is being held as part of a second round of senior officials’ meetings ahead of an APEC leaders’ summit this year in Gyeongju, South Korea.
APEC accounts for about half of global trade and 60% of global GDP.
