Trump’s tariff policy faces united resistance from leading countries

On March 30, 2025, officials from China, Japan, and South Korea held their first economic meeting in Seoul in five years to discuss common challenges amid growing US tariff pressure.

Immediately after the summit, Chinese state media hastened to report that agreements had been reached on a coordinated response to the US tariffs. The governments of Japan and South Korea were more reserved in their comments on the summit results.

In parallel with these events, the financial markets were experiencing extreme turbulence: investors began to sell off US bonds en masse, causing the yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds to rise from 3.8% to a peak of 4.5%, and their price to fall from $100.4 to $95.2.