South Korea, China and Japan held their first economic dialogue in five years on Sunday, seeking to facilitate regional trade as the three Asian export powers come under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, Reuters reports.
The trade ministers of the three countries agreed to "cooperate closely for comprehensive high-level talks" on the free trade agreement between South Korea, Japan and China to promote "regional and global trade", a statement issued after the meeting said.
"It is necessary to strengthen the implementation of the agreement involving all three countries and create a framework for expanding trade cooperation among the three countries through negotiations for a Korea-China-Japan free trade agreement", South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Deok-gyun said, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo are major trading partners of the United States, although they are at odds with each other on a number of issues, including territorial disputes and Japan's release of wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Since the talks began in 2012, they have not made significant progress on a trilateral free trade deal.
The 2022 agreement is a trade framework between 15 Asia-Pacific countries aimed at reducing trade barriers.
Last week, Trump announced 25% import tariffs on cars and auto parts, a move that could hurt companies, especially Asian automakers, which are among the largest exporters of vehicles to the United States.
According to S&P, South Korea is the world's largest exporter of cars to the United States after Mexico, followed by Japan.
The ministers agreed to hold their next ministerial meeting in Japan.