At Boao international forum, talk of more regional cooperation amid Trump’s trade war 2.0

BOAO, Hainan – The rapidly mounting tariff onslaught that threatens to hold back global economic growth has hovered in the background of an international conference that China is hosting this week.

At the Boao Forum for Asia – an annual gathering of government officials, academics and business leaders that discusses economic cooperation – in China’s Hainan province, panellists spoke of pushing back against a rising tide of protectionism by strengthening regional collaboration.

The refrain comes as the US ratchets up tariffs on multiple partners – with a new and broader tranche expected next week – and countries retaliate with barriers of their own.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in March projected, in its interim economic outlook report, that growth worldwide would slow amid the imposition of new bilateral tariffs and their attendant drag on trade and investment.

The OECD revised downwards its global growth estimates for 2025 and 2026, to 3.1 per cent and 3 per cent respectively, from the earlier forecast of 3.3 per cent in both years.

At the Boao forum from March 25 to 28, former Chinese trade official Long Yongtu said at a panel discussion on free trade ports that he was pessimistic about the outlook for free trade globally.

Even though the US’ attitude towards trade was not the mainstream one, the stability and fairness of global trade were nonetheless under threat. “Some big countries have thrown away multilateralism,” he said. “The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has basically been sidelined.”

Mr Long, who had been the chief negotiator for China’s entry to the international organisation, was referring to how the WTO – which can arbitrate trade disputes – has not been able to render its judgments enforceable since 2019.

This is because the US has been blocking the appointment of new judges to a body that processes appeals of these decisions.

At the forum, some panellists highlighted the need to consider how trade should be regulated in the absence of a fully functioning WTO.

Speaking at a session on globalisation on March 26, former US commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez urged panellists to think about what the “new system” would be in the event that a return to the rules-based trading system with the WTO at its centre was not possible.

He asked: “What does the world look like where global organisations aren’t regulating trade?”

Just over two months into US President Donald Trump’s second term in office, America has levelled a series of tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico, on steel and aluminium imports, and on buyers of Venezuelan oil.

Come April 2, a fresh tranche of what are termed “reciprocal tariffs” is expected, this time on a broader range of trading partners which run sizeable trade surpluses and impose high trade barriers on the US.

It is part of the Trump administration’s bid to bring manufacturing back onto American soil.

The tariffs, Mr Gutierrez surmised, would “impact very much the trajectory of Asia”. They could also result in greater intra-Asian trade and “cement regionalisation”, he added.

As a wider trade war brews, speakers at the forum urged greater regional cooperation, and for countries to continue bolstering free and fair trade.

Former Singapore deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng described the ramifications of the US’ tariffs as “global”, noting that the ripple effects of trade disruptions would “cause a great deal of economic chaos and uncertainty”.

“Despite these challenges and difficulties that we face, it is very important for like-minded countries to continue working together to strengthen the international rules-based trading order,” said Mr Wong, who is now chairman of CLA Real Estate Holdings, and was speaking at a panel discussion on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) platform.

He cited regional free trade agreements and economic organisations – such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and Apec – as entities that could work together to find new ways of collaboration in a troubled world.

At a separate panel discussion, former Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa said that the region should exercise “political leadership”, speak up for free and fair trade, and push back against voices that say otherwise.

Leaders should “speak with one clarion voice”, he said, outlining that “for us in Asia, we are in favour of more trade, more prosperity”.