The first meeting of the commerce and industry ministers of Japan, the United States and South Korea was held, and the ministers agreed to cooperate to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals, semiconductors and other items.

The Commerce and Industry Ministers’ Meeting held in Washington was attended by Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Saito, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Lemond, and South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ahn Deok-keun.

This was the first such meeting based on the agreement reached at the Japan-US-ROK summit in August last year, and the joint statement included agreements to cooperate in strengthening supply chains for critical minerals, semiconductors, and other items.

Furthermore, with China in mind, they expressed concern about the “weaponization of economic dependence,” such as by imposing import and export restrictions to intimidate trading partners, and agreed to avoid excessive reliance on any one country.

Ken Saito, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
“When it comes to strengthening the supply chain, it is important for like-minded countries to cooperate with each other. Given that the industrial sectors of Japan and South Korea are highly complementary, I believe this will be a very important step.”

The three countries have decided to hold this ministerial meeting annually to continue to advance their cooperation.