TOKYO \u2014 Talk of a possible 20 percent tax on U. S. imports from Mexico raised eyebrows today in Asia, where exports to the U. S. drive growth in many economies.
Reaction to the news was more muted than it might have been, however, since much of the region was closed for lunar new year holidays.
Japanese officials said Friday they hoped to meet soon with U. S. officials. Finance Minister Taro Aso said the Japanese side should \u201cthoroughly explain\u201d how Japanese companies have been contributing to American society, including creating jobs.
\u201cIt would be important to exchange opinions to accurately convey the reality and establish a steady relationship,\u201d Aso told reporters.
President Donald Trump\u2019s press secretary Sean Spicer said the 20 percent tax was among several options to finance building a wall along the U. S. southern border, but no decision has been made.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (PAYN\u2018-yuh nee-EH\u2018-toh) scrapped a scheduled trip to Washington next week over the issue. He has flatly rejected Trump\u2019s assertion that Mexico will pay for the wall on its border.
The peso fell 0.6 percent against the U. S. dollar, to 21.35 pesos to the dollar but recovered to about 21.23 late Friday in Asia. The Japanese yen also weakened against the dollar, to 115.23 yen from Thursday\u2019s close of 114.46 yen.
China\u2019s official Xinhua News Agency reported that Trump was considering the 20 percent tariff without any editorial comment. However, the report cited unnamed analysts saying Trump would have to withdraw the U. S. from the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, to be able to impose such a tax. Trump has said he wants to renegotiate NAFTA.
Though he did not refer directly to Trump, in remarks marking the eve of the lunar new year on Friday, Premier Li Keqiang said, \u201cAbove all, we remain convinced that economic openness serves everyone better, at home and abroad.
\u201cThe world is a community of shared destiny. It\u2019s far preferable for countries to trade goods and services and bond through investment partnerships than to trade barbs and build barriers. Should differences arise, it behooves us all to discuss them with respect and a keen sense of equality,\u201d he said.
Uncertainty over future trade ties with the U. S. rose after Trump pulled the U. S. out of a Pacific Rim trade initiative, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that formed the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama\u2019s moves to strengthen U. S. economic ties in the region.
It\u2019s unclear how much of Trump\u2019s campaign rhetoric will become reality, said Kent Calder, director of Asia Programs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
\u201cBut the general symbolism that America is growing protectionist I think deeply concerns almost all Asian countries because they are pre-eminent exporters, and many of them heavily dependent on exports and so that has major implications for them, even if this is specifically aimed first of all at Mexico,\u201d he said.
Japan\u2019s chief government spokesman refused comment on tensions over the border wall, but said Tokyo was watching for any impact on Japanese companies.
A steep tariff on exports from Mexico to the U. S. would pinch manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corp., which like nearly all other automakers builds small cars in Mexico to take advantage of its lower wages.
Toyota employs thousands of people at factories in the U. S, but it also is planning to build a plant in Mexico to make the popular Corolla subcompact.
About 70 percent of the vehicles Japanese car makers sell in the U. S. are made in the U. S., but a tax on cars exported from Japan \u2014 1.8 million last year \u2014 would \u201cclearly be a major headwind,\u201d Capital Economics\u2019 economists Marcel Thieliant and Mark Williams said in a report issued Friday.
Trump also has threatened to impose steep tariffs on imports from China, which ran a $319 billion surplus with the U. S. in January-November 2016, compared with Japan\u2019s $62.4 billion surplus and Mexico\u2019s $60 billion, according to U. S. figures.
Associated Press writers Ken Moritsugu and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

\n

\nSimilarity rank: 3.4\n<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: 2.2<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n