China, Japan and South Korea resume economic dialogue and cooperation to meet the challenge of Trump's tariffs

China, Japan and South Korea held their first economic dialogue in five years on Sunday, aiming to boost regional trade cooperation in response to challenges posed by the Trump administration's tariff policies.

Trade ministers from the three countries said in a statement after the meeting that they agreed to promote "comprehensive and high-level" cooperation and actively push forward negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) to promote further development of regional and global trade.

"We need to strengthen the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which the three countries are participating in, and build a framework to expand trade cooperation among the three countries through the trilateral free trade Agreement negotiations," said Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Andergeun.

The meeting comes as the Trump administration prepares to roll out a new round of tariffs on April 2. Trump called the measures "Liberation Day" and the move is widely expected to significantly realignment Washington's foreign trade relations.

Since the launch of negotiations in 2012, the three countries have been unable to make a substantive breakthrough on a trilateral free trade agreement.

RCEP, which entered into force in 2022, is a trade agreement between 15 Asia-Pacific countries that aims to reduce trade barriers in the region. However, last week, Trump announced a 25 percent import tariff on cars and parts, which could hit companies, especially Asian automakers.

South Korea is the second-largest source of car imports to the US after Mexico, according to S&P Global, while Japan is close behind.