The 21-member APEC bloc projected exports in the region would rise by only 0.4 percent this year, compared with 5.7 percent last year, in a regional trends analysis report released at its 2025 meeting of ministers responsible for trade in South Korea's resort island of Jeju.

The bloc also cut its regional economic growth forecast for this year to 2.6 percent from 3.3 percent previously.

"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," APEC said in a statement.

The Trump administration's sweeping tariffs have targeted more than half of the APEC grouping, where regional average tariff rates fell to 5.3 percent by 2021, from 17 percent in 1989, when the non-binding economic forum was established. This period saw merchandise trade increase more than nine-fold.

Still, in a sign of potential further progress to address trade friction between the world's biggest economies, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met Chinese trade envoy Li Chenggang on the sidelines of the gathering, South Korea's Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo told reporters without elaborating.

The meeting comes after Greer and Li agreed to slash steep tariffs at their first face-to-face talks in Geneva on May 10-11.

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.

The Trump administration views the WTO as a body that has enabled China to gain an unfair export advantage and has recently moved to pause US funding to the institution.

Ripple effects of tariffs

As host of the annual conference, South Korea Trade Minister Cheong will highlight how the 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 US tariffs and warned the reach of their ripple effects is still greater.

"We notice US tariffs are affecting not just goods trade, it's also affecting services trade and financial markets. That’s why governments are having trade talks, but they are still not back to before early April," Kuriyama told reporters.

Greer is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his South Korean counterpart, three weeks after their opening round of trade talks in Washington, D.C. He will also have his first face-to-face meeting with New Zealand and meet with representatives from other Asian countries.

"We're moving as quickly as we possibly can with folks who want to be ambitious," Greer told CNBC television before he departed for Jeju on Tuesday. His office declined to comment on his schedule for bilateral meetings.

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 percent of global GDP.