BEIJING (Reuters) – China, Japan and South Korea agreed to jointly respond to U.S. tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday.
The comments came after the three countries held their first economic dialogue in five years on Sunday, seeking to facilitate regional trade as the Asian export powers brace against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Japan and South Korea are seeking to import semiconductor raw materials from China, and China is also interested in purchasing chip products from Japan and South Korea, the account, Yuyuan Tantian, said in a post on Weibo.
All three sides agreed to strengthen supply chain cooperation and engage in more dialogue on export controls, the post said.
During Sunday’s meeting, the countries’ trade ministers agreed to “closely cooperate for comprehensive and high-level” talks on a South Korea-Japan-China free trade agreement deal to promote “regional and global trade”, according to a statement released after the meeting.
The ministers met ahead of Trump’s planned announcement on Wednesday of more tariffs in what he calls “liberation day”, as he upends Washington’s trading partnerships.
Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo are major U.S. trading partners, although they have been at loggerheads amongst themselves over issues including territorial disputes and Japan’s release of wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant.
(Reporting by Xiuhao Chen and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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