Finance ministers of Japan, China and South Korea have vowed to fight against "all forms of protectionism" in a trilateral meet on Friday, against the protectionist policies advocated by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The communique said, "We will resist all forms of protectionism. We agree that trade is one of the most important engines of economic growth and development, which contribute to productivity improvements and job creations."
The collective decision by three Northeast Asian powers assumes much significance in the wake of Trump's calls to put America's interest first and pull out of multilateral trade agreements.
Asian economies has agreed to defend free trade for achieving robust growth and called for policymakers to introduce "all necessary policy tools" to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.
The United States has been threatening its trade partners with increased tariffs. The strong statement issued by the financial chiefs of the group of 20 economies in March, in which they dropped the line against protectionism.
Free trade and Trump's protectionist rhetoric are likely to be high on the July7-8 G20 summit agenda in Hamburg.
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