Trade ministers of the Group of Seven economies kicked off a conference Saturday in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, with a focus on reinforcing supply chains of critical minerals and other items to ensure economic security.
At the meeting through Sunday, G7 ministers aim to boost cooperation with emerging and developing economies that are part of the so-called Global South, who were invited to a G7 trade ministers' confab for the first time. The role these nations play in building resilient supply chains is seen as becoming more significant given the recent geopolitical environment.
Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and U.S.-China tensions over advanced semiconductors and technology, among other issues, has highlighted the importance of economic security and resilient supply chains for materials essential in making computer chips and batteries.
The participants will also discuss their response to economic coercion -- using economic means such as trade dominance to pressure other nations to achieve political goals -- as many officials and experts from democratic nations pointed out that China has been deploying coercive economic practices with growing intensity and scope.
In late August, China imposed restrictions on seafood imports from Japan after it started discharging treated water with low concentrations of tritium from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. G7 ministers are considering bringing up the issue at the meeting, according to government sources.
India, which chairs the Group of 20 meetings this year, and resource-rich Australia, Chile, Indonesia and Kenya, as well as international bodies such as the World Trade Organization, plan to discuss ways to diversify distribution systems for critical materials with the G7 at an outreach session on the opening day.
Co-chairs Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's trade minister, and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will release the outcome of the meeting at a press conference on Sunday.
"We look forward to sharing principles on resilient and trustworthy supply chains with invited partner countries, international organizations and representatives of the industrial world in the upcoming discussions," Nishimura told a press conference in Tokyo before the meeting.
The agenda for sessions on the final day includes a reform of the WTO's dispute settlement system, which has faced criticism that it is at risk of collapsing due to vacancies in the Appellate Body.
In response to China's blanket ban imposed on marine products from Japan, the Japanese government is studying the possibility of taking the matter to the WTO.
It is the year's second meeting of trade ministers of the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union -- after an online meeting in April.
